To understand what football-crazed people Pittsburghers really are, go back to the local media coverage of the Steelers’ 2006 Super Bowl run. Take a single date in January, say the 19th. On that night one TV news program devoted its entire first 10 minutes to stories about the Steelers, including a man who had painted his house black and gold; another who had players’ faces tattooed on his back; and some guy who was allegedly the only Denver fan in Pittsburgh. And just before the first commercial break, the news anchor, who reminded us there was a world beyond football, said, “And when we come back, does a new audiotape mean that Osama bin Laden wants a truce?”
And surely Osama’s latest effort would have been pushed to the bottom of the hour had Alan Faneca cut himself shaving or Casey Hampton received the wrong order at the drive-through. Say what you will about our priorities, but you can’t question our passion about the Steelers.
Enter Ben Roethlisberger, whose every comment and action is filmed, recorded, written up, and endlessly analyzed by sportscasters, news readers, op-ed page editors, and millions of fans worldwide. When he hurt his knee during the 2005 season, it was front-page news. His motorcycle accident earlier this year induced one group of fans to hold a vigil outside of the hospital. His emergency appendectomy near the start of this season led every newscast in town. It was even “breaking news” when he received a new dog as a gift while visiting Switzerland this summer (did you know that the Bernese Mountain Dog is named Hercules and his other dog is a Rottweiler called Zeus?).
There’s a reason Pittsburghers care so much – in just two seasons, Roethlisberger has emerged as one of the league’s best quarterbacks, and certainly one of its fiercest competitors. Despite being hindered by a remarkable streak of unlucky injuries in his short career — broken toes, bruised knee, sore thumb, broken jaw, another injured thumb, and a bad appendix – Roethlisberger has rarely exercised caution on the field. He’s proven himself the embodiment of the leave-it-all-out-there NFL work ethic, whether taking a hit while passing, scrambling to buy time or charging ahead to run for yardage. Last year he single-handedly made the Steelers’ season (and Jerome Bettis’ legacy) with a diving shoe-string tackle of Indianapolis cornerback Nick Harper, a play some defensive backs might not have made.
That on-field success has turned him into a major marketing force. His NFL-replica jersey is the second best-selling in the country (behind Randy Moss’), he appears in Nike commercials all over TV, and he famously had his beard shaved with a new Gillette razor on the Late Show with David Letterman the night after the Super Bowl.
While he’s able to pick and choose well-paying national endorsement deals, Roethlisberger isn’t above helping local companies by lending his name to a package of beef jerky or a line of Big Ben buttons and magnets. When John Kosko, the owner of South Hills-based Roadside Ribs, approached Roethlisberger with the idea for “Big Ben’s Barbecue Sauce,” the quarterback made one demand– it had to taste good. After testing it for himself, he agreed to endorse it.
“Stars who ascend as fast as Roethlisberger often restrict themselves to associations with blue chip companies only,” ESPN.com wrote about Roethlisberger. “Part of the charm of his portfolio is that he’s doing deals with the little guys.”
Part of his natural appeal to fans is that he seems to sincerely want to make a difference off the field. Shortly after the Christmas day tsunami of 2004, Roethlisberger announced that he would donate his $18,000 playoff game check to the relief effort, and challenged other NFL players to do the same. Parts of the profits from many of his products go to various charities. And now he’s promoting youth sports through a partnership with several area school districts, [see sidebar, page 14].
South Fayette and Neighbors Magazine spoke with Roethlisberger earlier this season about fame, food, charity and hanging out with Donald Trump.
South Fayette & Neighbors Magazine: Let’s start with the important stuff. Are you happy with your character’s skill ratings in the new Madden 2007 video game?
Roethlisberger: [laughs] Actually I haven’t had the chance to play the game yet and I’m not exactly sure what my ratings are, but yeah that’s something we always joke about with the EA Sports people. We feel we should be rated higher in certain categories than they make us. I know a couple people at EA sports, so I’ll talk to them
and give them a hard time.
Is the game a big deal with players when it comes out each August?
Yeah, they get into it pretty good. They hit it pretty hard the last week of training camp, and they’ll get some pretty heated battles going. They get really serious, really competitive.
Where do you rank among the team’s video game players?
I don’t play them that often, but if I do, it’s me and Jerame Tuman playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour. I like the golf games.
There’s supposedly a curse associated with players who appear on the cover of Madden. Michael Vick broke his leg, Ray Lewis broke his wrist, then Donovan McNabb got hurt. Would you appear on the cover if asked?
Yeah, I think it’d be a great honor to be on the cover of that game.
Since you’ve come back from your bike wreck, do your teammates ever comment on it, jokingly, seriously or otherwise?
No, we really don’t talk about it. It’s one of those unspoken things. It may be something you joke about in years to come, but right now it’s still way too near to really joke about it.
As a kid growing up you must have dreamed of football glory, of being an NFL star and winning a Super Bowl. Now you're there. How does the reality compare to what you'd imagined?
Well it’s funny because as a kid when you’re out in the street – and I was always throwing the ball as Joe Montana and catching it as Jerry Rice – I dreamed a lot about playing in the Super Bowl. What you don’t think about – and why would you, because you don’t know any better – is all the scrutiny that comes with it. You don’t think about living under a magnifying glass, you don’t think about all the interviews, all the extra pressure. All you think about, normally, is the game. You don’t think about all the extra things that go with it. But even with all that extra stuff, a Super Bowl is a Super Bowl, and that’s the goal of every NFL player.
How difficult can the privacy thing be? It must get annoying if you want to go out and eat.
It can be tough; a lot of times when you go out, you don’t get any privacy. So you have to pick the right restaurants and go in through the back door and stuff. It’s one of those things where you don’t go out if you don’t feel like being bugged.
Do you think it’s any more or less difficult being a football star in Pittsburgh, where football is almost a religion?
That’s the thing, being in Pittsburgh makes it that much tougher, because the fans just love the Steelers around here. It can hurt when you want privacy, but I wouldn’t trade our fans for the world.
When you first came to Pittsburgh, were you surprised by the reaction from fans?
I didn’t know what to expect, so yeah, it kind of blew me away because I went to a small school and coming to the NFL is a big deal. But I thought it was great from the get-go, and I still think it’s great being here. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
So you’re getting used to being famous?
Definitely. It’s part of the job and it’s something that I know goes with the territory and every year I get more used to it.
I've heard Rothburg, Rothlinsburger, Rothlingsburg… have Pittsburghers finally learned to pronounce your name?
[laughs] Yeah, I’ve heard everything. People would throw letters in that aren’t even there, like Roethlinsburger, when there’s not even an ‘N.’ Things like that kind of make me scratch my head a little bit. I haven’t heard too many mispronunciations recently, though.
[Editor’s note: Pittsburghers shouldn’t feel bad. Sports Illustrated’s web site still contains an archived story about a young Miami of Ohio quarterback who was breaking records. His name: “Ben Roethlisberg.”]
As an athlete and a national celebrity, do you feel pressure to be a role model to kids?
Yes, I mean, you want to be a role model, and I love that I have the opportunity to be a role model for kids, but I think there’s a fine line that some people misunderstand between being a role model and being a parent. I can be a role model and influence kids with my actions, but parents should be the number one role model in a kid’s life.
That seems like a difficult role to assume, because you still have to live your life, only under that microscope.
It is tough, because you have to watch everything you do. There are so many eyes on you that sometimes you can’t live the life you want to live. You have to be careful when you’re in the public eye, with the way you portray yourself.
I’d imagine that one problem with being a celebrity is that you could be the greatest guy in the world, but if you’re out, and maybe you’re having a bad day, or maybe you’re in a hurry to be somewhere, or maybe some fan just catches you at the wrong time – that person’s opinion of you is going to be forever shaped by the one encounter with you.
I got some advice from Warren Moon about that. He told me that if you don’t feel like dealing with people, then don’t go out, because you don’t want to give a bad impression to anybody.
Is there any well-known person that you would like to meet?
That’s tough, because I’ve most of the people that I’ve really wanted to meet, like Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Dan Marino – all the sports stars that I grew up wanting to be like. I’ve met and played golf with people like Donald Trump. He’s a good friend. We talk almost once a week.
What’s Donald Trump like off-camera?
He’s a great guy. We actually converse quite often and joke about things. I’m planning a time that I can go to New York and hang out and he’s going to come to a game.
Ben Roethlisberger and Donald Trump hang out? What do you guys do?
We’ve gone to dinner, we’ve gone out, we’ve golfed. All kinds of things.
Who’s your closest friend on the team?
I’m close with a lot of guys on the team – Jerame Tuman, Hines, Lee Mays, Verron Haynes, those are just a couple of guys.
Do the offensive players tend to hang out with other offense guys, and the defensive players likewise?
A little bit, but I think our team is special in that we all get along with each other.
Do you and your teammates hang out much away from practice?
Definitely. We hang out a lot actually, a lot more than most teams do, and everyone hangs out with everyone else, that’s why we’re so close and get along so well.
You’ve said that you cook. Is there a family recipe or anything special that you like to make?
I learned from watching my dad, who is an amazing cook. He doesn’t do recipes, though, he just kind of throws stuff together. Our family are big barbecuers, so I love to get on the grill and grill steaks and burgers and chicken breasts, things like that. I’ve had my buddies over and barbecued with the [Big Ben brand] sauces.
A couple guys on the team have tried them. Of course they made fun of me at first, because we make fun of each other for having products out there, but then they said, “Ben we tried it, and it’s actually really good.”
What is your favorite flavor from your line of sauces?
I love the hot and spicy stuff. You can’t make something hot enough for me, so I’m a big fan of the hot sauce.
You’ve been involved with several charities since joining the Steelers. Is it difficult to choose which to help?
Yeah, it really is hard to do that. You try to do as much as you can, but it’s just not possible to say yes to everybody. There’s just way too much out there, too many worthy foundations and charities. So you try to pick and choose and do as much as you can, even if it’s just something as simple as sending them an autographed item.
Now you’re involved with promoting youth sports at area school districts. What message do you have for kids playing sports?
If I were to say something, it would be to look at my story. People can say whatever they want about you, they can say you can’t do it, they can put you at different positions, but ultimately it’s up to you if you want to do it or not. Don’t get down on yourself, don’t get disappointed and you can pull through and fight and do whatever you want to do.
As a kid, were there ever times that you doubted yourself?
I never doubted myself. That’s the key. You gotta believe in yourself, because other people might not. There were a lot of people that told me that I couldn’t do it. Some even said I couldn’t play quarterback, but you have to believe in yourself. •
