Big Ben embraces youth camp
Fantasy Experience with the Steelers’ very own UPMC Rooney Sports Performance Complex on the South Side playing host in lieu of the usual local high school venue.
Roethlisberger had the vision of moving the camp to the same Steelers headquarters where the squad trains and practices throughout the season and offseason, so he asked team president Art Rooney II and got the OK.
“I need to say thank-you to him, because he was all for it,” Roethlisberger said. “The biggest thing, obviously, was location — it’s easy to get to, things like that — but I really wanted these kids to experience what we get to experience. … To practice on the same field as the Steelers, when you grow up a Steelers fan, it’s got to be pretty cool. I just wanted it to be an added bonus for the kids for the ‘coolness’ factor.”
With temperatures Sunday inching toward 90 degrees, the camp was held within the indoor practice facility. Parents piled up on the sideline in canvas chairs and with their camcorders, making sure they captured their children’s best moments of the day.
Roethlisberger initially was hesitant to steal any Father’s Day thunder, but thought it went so well a year ago with kids relishing the experience alongside their dads that he wanted to do it again. Not to mention, for any dad who doubles as a Steelers fan, seeing his son or daughter catch passes from the local Pro Bowler might be a great Father’s Day present.
For a little bit of symmetry, Roethlisberger also brought his own dad, Ken, and oldest son Benjamin Jr., 4, to share in the festivities. Roethlisberger didn’t come within 100 yards of the ‘R’ word, but it’s days like this that he thinks about when he considers retirement after each season.
“I mean, yeah, every day I spend with my kids, you value and treasure because they grow up so fast,” he said. “And that’s all I hear from fathers who have older kids is just how fast it goes, to enjoy it, and treasure it. So that’s what I do, I just try to enjoy and treasure every day.”
That’s mostly what he’ll be doing between now and the start of training camp next month. He’ll pepper in some strength training and do cardio every day, but spending time with family — lots of swimming, for sure — and resting the right arm is No. 1.
And that arm might need some rest after Sunday. It’s long been a tenet of Roethlisberger’s camps, but he never takes any less pride in saying it.
“I’m going to throw a pass to every kid,” he said. “If I can teach one thing or supply one memory to these kids — just one, to one kid — that’s enough for me. I mean, there’s 500 kids out here, but if we can just reach one kid, then that means a lot to me.”
Sure enough, he tossed more than one pass to most attendees, and sprinkled in enough football jargon to make one think he was game-planning with Antonio Brown or Le’Veon Bell.
“That’s a good route, take what they give you,” he told one of his new receivers. “Oh, what a catch!” he shouted and clapped when one made a shoestring grab on a low throw. “My fault, I thought you were going,” after a miscommunication. “Ah, you gotta catch that!” if some tough love was needed.
Plenty of campers had their chance to try to defend a Roethlisberger pass, too, as they went through oneon-one drills. “Good D!” he admitted with a grin after one break-up, then asked his intended target if it was interference. “Did he hold you? Did he give you a pull? Half the distance?”
He even drew up a makeshift route on his hand for one pass-catcher, and scrambled around a bit in an imaginary pocket if the play called for it. Roethlisberger chuckled at the thought of some parents watching, unable to help but wonder how many years this guy has left.
“Well, there might’ve been a couple,” he said with a smile. “But I hope they go home talk about, ‘Man, how much fun was this?’ or ‘I caught the pass that Ben threw.’ I hope that’s the memory.”