Sports
Camp of a Lifetime: Soldier Overseas Watches Big Ben Toss Football with Sons
Both sons attended the camp as a birthday present from their father.
On Tuesday, it wasn’t Steelers’ Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s injured knee that ached — it was his shoulder. Even, 'Big Ben' can get a little achey from passing a football to all 508 kids attending his camp at Seneca Valley High School this week.
The two-day camp, organized by ProCamps Worldwide and sponsored by Giant Eagle and Fifth Third Bank, was the sixth annual Ben Roethlisberger football camp and the third hosted at Seneca Valley High School.
The whistles of 50 local football coaches blared above the noise of the excited children, whose ages ranged from 7-14. The Raiders’ Stadium was chaotic as the campers, outfitted in their matching white t-shirts, ran between stations to learn different football skills.
Roethlisberger roamed from group to group coaching them one-on-one, hopping on his blue Schwinn bicycle to ride between the two fields.
The players, at one point, sat mesmerized as Steelers head Coach Mike Tomlin gave them a "life lessons" pep talk. (see video)
But it wasn’t all work and no play — some campers danced to a DJ's music, rolled around on the turf or made goofy faces for the news cameras.
Roethlisberger did stop to have some fun of his own.
Find out what's happening in Robinson-Moonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
He pranked campers by spraying them with a water bottle and hiding behind a group of coaches. When the campers caught sight of the quarterback they shouted, “Ben!” and dissolved into giggles.
Parents also got involved, calling out encouragements from the sidelines, but one dad cheered his sons on from the other side of the world.
Find out what's happening in Robinson-Moonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
From his post in Afghanistan, Mark Ziegler watched a Youtube video of his son, 14-year-old Andrew Ziegler, catching a 50 yard pass thrown by Roethlisberger — in what the quarterback himself described as a “NFL style catch.”
In a post on Roethlisberger’s official website, the boy’s mother, Dena Ziegler, wrote that the boy’s father watched the video, “at least a hundred times.” Both Ziegler sons attended the camp as a birthday present from their father.
On Tuesday, Roethlisberger pulled the brothers from the crowd of children and threw a 50 yard pass to each. The crowd went wild when both brothers successfully caught the ball, and Roethlisberger hoisted one brother onto his shoulder for a victory lap.
“It’ll be a sports center top ten I think,” Roethlisberger said.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
