Name	Ben Roethlisberger
Height	6' 5"
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	March 2, 1982
Place of Birth	Lima, Ohio, USA
Famous for

Benjamin Roethlisberger was born in Findlay, Ohio on March 2, 1982. (Click here for a complete listing of today's sports birthdays.) His parents, Ida and Ken, were struggling wit their marriage when Ben entered the world. The two divorced when he was 18 months. His dad got custody, with Ida taking him on alternate weekends. Ken soon remarried. Ben got along well with his stepmother, Brenda. A sister, Carlee, came along later.

When Ben was eight, Ida was involved in a car accident. Waiting to be picked up by her, he was shooting baskets when the news was delivered. Kept alive for several weeks, Ida never regained consciousness. Her family decided to end her suffering and told doctors to let her go.

Ben rarely talks about this episode, but acknowledges Ida by pointing to heaven after every touchdown. By the time she passed away, he was referring to Brenda as "Mom," so the adjustment to life without his biologocal mother was not as hard as it is for most kids in this situation.

Findlay, a working-class suburb of 40,000 about an hour south of Toledo, had a real hometown feel to it. In fact, the town's eventual mayor, Tony Iriti, was Ben's football coach in the fifth and sixth grade. Iriti later became a volunteer assistant at Findlay High School.

Ben was a bright, happy kid despite his parents’ breakup and his mother's tragic death. He was a good student and an excellent athlete. His heroes were John Elway (whenever he could snag Elway’s number 7, in any sport, he did—all the way up to the NFL) and Joe Montana, though basketball was his best sport. Ben inherited his athletic abilty from his dad. Ken was a student-athlete at Georgia Tech in the 1970s, playing quarterback and shortstop for the Yellow Jackets.

Ben was a big movie buff. He particularly enjoyed James Bond films, and in junior high he decided he wanted to be a secret agent—or at least an FBI agent—when he grew up. That is, after his NBA career was done. Ben’s undisputed #1 sport by his teen years—and his consuming passion—was hoops.

Tall and well-coordinated, Ben understood the rhythm of basketball and could think two passes ahead when other boys were still thinking about dribbling. When he entered Findlay High in 1996, he quickly won a starting role on the varsity hoops team, took over the point-guard job, and ultimately set the school’s career scoring record. Ben also became the Trojans' varsity shortstop and was a dependable .300 hitter with good range and a nice arm. He captained the Findlay squads in both sports, and made All-League and All-District teams.

Ben was also a pretty fair football player. As a freshman or sophomore, he played on the varsity as a reserve quarterback, displaying a strong and accurate arm in practice, but did not get into any games. He seemed ready to lead the varsity as a junior, but still rode the bench. The first stringer was Ryan Hite, whose father, Cliff, was Findlay’s coach. Hite ended up playing Division-III ball for Denison—ironically, as a receiver—but was an excellent quarterback for Findlay. He led the school to the league title in 1998.

Ben moved to wide receiver in his junior year, where he caught 57 balls for 757 yards. He became good friends with Mike Iriti, Tony's son and also a wideout on the team. They would eventually become one of Ohio’s top passing tandems.

Ben always envisioned himself as a quarterback and knew the job would be up for grabs in his senior season. That kept him interested in football. Otherwise he would have skipped his final year to concentrate on winning a Division-I hoops scholarship.

The summer before the 1999 season, Ben and some friends attended a summer camp on the campus of the University of Miami (Ohio). A RedHawks assistant spotted Ben tossing the ball around and alerted head coach Terry Hoeppner. He was furious that a local kid with that much talent did not appear on any recruiting sheets in their office until he discovered the young man had never taken a snap. Hoeppner made a note to follow Ben’s progress back in Findlay.

A few weeks later, Ben was nmaed the starting quarterback for the Trojans. he spent the fall riddling enemy defenses. His years as a receiver had paid nice dividends, as he got to understand coverage schemes from the secondary. This not only helped him read defenses, it also taught him how receivers find seams and how much time they need to get open. It also didn’t hurt that Ben now stood 6-5. With the size to see over the pass rush, he still maintained the shiftiness he had developed in basketball. Despite his height. Ben juked tacklers as if he were a halfback. His experience at shortstop was beneficial, too—he was a strong passer on the run.

Ben could hardly believe how easily quarterbacking came to him. He threw for six touchdowns in his first start for Findlay. Miami of Ohio offered him a full scholarship the next day.

As the season progressed, every game was like a personal highlight film—Ben looked at enemy defenses and had his way with them down after down. Overall, the Torjans went 10-2, advancing to the second round of the state playoffs, where they lost to Grove City High School.

For the year, Ben passed for 4,041 yards and 54 touchdowns. Both marks set state records. Going into the season, Ben had assumed he would be playing college basketball in 2000. But his success on the gridiron convinced him that he might have a brighter future as a Division-I quarterback.










John Elway, 1992 Pro Line



This was far from a consensus opinion, however. Because Ben was new to the position, college scouts were late in catching on to his talent. By the time big-time programs like Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State started sniffing around, Hoeppner had already sold Ben on the idea of suiting up for Miami of Ohio. He told the teen that he could be the next Chad Pennington, who had just finished a sterling career with Mid-America Conference rival Marshall. There, with Randy Moss, Pennington had put up incredible numbers.

Hoeppner's offer sounded a lot better than the one from the Buckeyes, who had Ben slotted in at tight end. Even better, Miami of Ohio also recruited Iriti, Ben’s favorite receive. He had reeled in more than 100 receptions in ’99 and established a state record with 21 touchdown grabs.

When Ben arived on campus in Oxford in August of 2000, he realized he had a lot of learning and growing to do. Ben weighed just 185 pounds, and quarterback was still a relatively new position to him. He watched his first season from the sidelines as a redshirt while he bulked up. Ryan Hawk did a decent job as the starter for the RedHawks, but everyone knew he was just keeping a spot warm for Ben. Assuming the teenager grabbed the starting job in 2001, Hoeppner would have a backup with a thorough knowledge of the system. Ben made his coach look like a genius in a spring intrasquad game in 2001, wowing the crowd by hitting on 21 of 33 passes on a windy day.