News

June 26, 2009

ESPY nominations update

I left out a fifth nomination for the Steelers.

They are nominated under "Best Play" for Santonio Holmes game-winning touchdown reception from Ben Roethlisberger in Super Bowl XLIII

So, be sure to add that category to your voting. The voting information is in the June 25th news.

Click here to cast your vote.

We need to let Steelers Nation be heard..so please VOTE!!!

June 25, 2009

ESPY nominations announced

The ESPY nominations are out, and the Steelers are nominated for Best Team and Best Game! Also, Mike Tomlin is nominated for Best Coach, and James Harrison for Best NFL Player.

The awards show will air July 19 at 9:00 p.m. on ESPN.

Your vote counts!

Voting begins today, and ends at 11:59 p.m. on July 11. Click here to cast your vote.

Also...

Congratulations to Coach Dick LeBeau on his upcoming induction into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame. The class will be inducted Sept. 25 and introduced to the public at halftime of the home football game (at The Ohio State University) against Illinois the next day.

And, the honors continue for Coach LeBeau as he will also be honored in London, Ohio this Saturday. He will have a field house at his high school named after him. It will be part of a ceremony honoring LeBeau for his 50 years in the NFL as a player and a coach.

June 15, 2009

News and Notes

Training Camp '09:

The Steelers report to training camp on July 31st. Practices will begin on August 1st. It will be held at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. For the complete schedule, and more information on training camp, click here.

Steelers individual game tickets:

A limited number of individual game tickets for the Steelers 2009 home games are available through Ticketmaster beginning on Saturday, June 20, at 10:00 a.m. This marks the third consecutive season fans will be able to purchase tickets through Ticketmaster.

For more information on purchasing the tickets, click here.

Congratulations...

...To the Penguins on winning the Stanley Cup Championship...and to Ben Roethlisberger on his victory at the US Open Challenge!

To read about Ben's US Open Challenge event, and to see photos, click here.

The city of Pittsburgh (and fans from all over the world) have certainly had reason to celebrate this year!

June 9, 2009

Catching Up

I am home from vacation so I am now able to update the various events Keisel participated in recently.

Habitat for Humanity:

Keisel and several teammates worked with Habitat for Humanity on June 8th to help build a house for Debbie Miller and her family.

Miller is the recipient of the “Champions House,” presented by Habitat for Humanity to a qualified family in the Super Bowl winning city. Miller and her grandsons will soon move into a home in the Westwood section of Pittsburgh, a home that is being built from the ground up by volunteers.

Miller was taken by surprise on Monday when she was working on the house and 14 members of the Super Bowl Champion Steelers showed up to get things rolling. The players, along with assistant head coach John Mitchell, put up the exterior walls of the house and began work on interior walls, as well as handling some painting duties.

Keisel is no stranger to the home building experience, helping out his family when he was just 12-years old building their first home in Wyoming. He looked at home on the construction site and left with the satisfaction of knowing how much it meant to Miller and the kids.

“They are going to enjoy it,” said Keisel. “The kids will be able to grow up in there and that is what makes it special."

To read Teresa Varley's entire article on Steelers.com, click here.

To watch a video with Keisel and teammates, click here.

And, to see photos from the event, click here.

What a great thing for Keisel and his teammates to do for the Miller family!

Hines Ward Celebrity Softball Game:

The game was held on June 6 (see information about the game in May 29th news).

To view photos of Keisel during the game, click here.

Steelers Superbowl XLIII Ring:

The team received their Superbowl rings today. For pictures of the rings, and information on them, click here.

OTA's:

The last round of OTA's are this week. The team will then have a break until they report to training camp on July 31st.

I will post information on training camp, and on purchasing individual game tickets soon.

May 29, 2009-afternoon update listed below

One year and still going strong

It has been a little over a year since I began this website, and the number of visitors to the site just keeps growing!

I credit this to the great work Keisel does on and off the field, to his huge following of fans, and to his family's wonderful support of this site.

Brett certainly has a built up a fan base worldwide. According to the statistics from my hosting company, the United States leads in the number of visitors to the site, followed by Sweden, Canada, France, China, Spain, and Italy. Costa Rica and the Netherlands have recently been showing large numbers of visitors.

The first month I started the site, I had almost 200 visitors. As of May of 2009, which is a little over a year since the site began, I show over 126,000 visitors!

This number does not count the web robots or crawlers that automatically generate hits on a site.

Also, the MySpace page has over 1,000 friends so far.

So, I wanted to say Thank you, Tack, Merci beaucoup, Muchas gracias, etc. to everyone for visiting this site!

Also...

...Hines Ward will hold his second annual celebrity softball game on June 6. It will be held at 1 p.m. at Duquesne Field. The event is free, but donations will be taken to benefit the families of the fallen Pittsburgh police officers. At least 11 Steelers will participate with local media celebrities.

Update:

I did locate a list of Steelers who are scheduled to play in the softball game. Brett is listed as playing, as are Ben Roethlisberger, James Harrison, James Farrior, Jeff Reed, Santonio Holmes, Max Starks, Willie Parker, Deshea Townsend, Ike Taylor and Hines Ward.

1250 ESPN is offering a lucky fan the chance to "Coach the Champs." You can bid to serve as an honorary coach at the softball game.

For information on the contest, click here.

For more information on the softball game, click here.

The event information will also be listed on the right side of this page under, Events and Appearances.

To see photos from the game last year, click here.

FYI...

...The next round of OTA's will be June 9-11.

I added one more picture to the White House visit gallery. Click here to see it.

I will be out of town for a bit, so I will update any event photos or news when I return. I will be able to update the MySpace page (the link is at the top of this page), so you can check there for photos while I am gone.

May 21, 2009-afternoon update

President Obama congratulates the Steelers

The Steelers organization headed to Washington D.C. today to meet with President Obama and to make care packages for our troops.

Obama started off by saying:

"Congratulations to the Superbowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and to the fans of Steelers Nation who wave that Terrible Towel every Sunday!"

Obama went on to say:

"This is a new team for a new era and that's embodied by Coach Tomlin."

He also referred to Dick LeBeau as "one of the greatest defensive coordinators of all time."

The President discussed how the Steelers do great work on and off the field, and while they were at the White House they would be teaming up with the USO for Operation Care Package. They would be packing up 3,000 care packages for our troops.

Ever the competitors, the Steelers were divided into three teams-defense, offense and special teams. They would race to see which team could pack the most packages.

The footage stopped before I saw who won, but my bet is on the #1 defense!

Coach LeBeau was interviewed and said he was having a great afternoon (at the White House) and it was a great honor. He went on to say how proud he was of his defense everyday.

The President also welcomed about 50 wounded warriors from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center for the ceremony. In addition to the wounded warriors and the Steelers, President Obama is meeting with Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper and four officers who were the first to respond to the April shooting in Stanton Heights that claimed the lives of three city police officers.

To see a video of the visit, click here.

To see pictures from the visit, click here.

I will add more if I find any.

May 21, 2009

Keisel enjoys his work, no matter the situation

From John Harris, of the Tribune-Review:

All around the NFL, players entering the final year of their contracts are boycotting minicamps and voluntary workouts because they want new deals.

The same is not true in Pittsburgh, where several Steelers entering their final contract years report to work without protest.

"That's how it is around here," said Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel, who is entering the final year of his contract. "Everyone understands what's going on, but it's just something we don't talk about. The guys we have on this team really makes it enjoyable to come to work."

Keisel was asked if he would prefer to re-sign before the start of the season.

"It's something that's kind of out of your hands," he said. "You just have to go to work. I'm looking for the opportunity to hopefully repeat. I feel excited about our opportunity, and hopefully, we can seize it. That's my focus. I'm not really concerned about the contract.

"I just want this year to be my best yet. I feel like every year I want to improve. Once I can't do that, it's time for me to hang up the cleats."

Keisel, entering his fourth season as a starter, finished with 34 tackles and one sack despite missing six games because of injuries.

Brett talks about the upcoming visit to the White House:

"I'm excited. "It's kind of history in the making. The first black president, and we get to be the first (NFL) team to meet him. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity."

"I'd like to see more (this time). We saw a couple of rooms that I think basically everyone gets to see. I'm going to try to go through the trap doors and see if I can get lost in there."

Lets hope the Secret Service don't learn of Keisel's plans!

To read the entire article, click here.

Also...

...Be sure to read the news below (May 20) for information on watching live coverage of the Steelers trip to Washington! There are also some new basketball pics posted with yesterdays news!

May 20, 2009

New basketball photos

Brett and the Steelers basketball team played at Logan Middle School, in the East Allegheny School District, last week.

Clink Helmick attended the game, and sent several photos of Keisel to share.

Click here to see the photos.

Thanks to Clint for sending them!

Reminder:

The Steelers are scheduled to visit the White House tomorrow.

WPXI will have live coverage of the visit on their website and (for local Pittsburgh fans) on Channel 11 news.

Also:

Check out the May 13th news for information on a great way to support breast cancer research, and to get a chance to win some nice prizes!

May 19, 2009

Return of OTA's and Brett plays in golf tourney

The Steelers began another round of OTA's today. I will post any pics I find from the OTA's in the Photo Gallery.

OTA News:

From Teresa Varley's article, LeBeau Dreams up a New Defensive Package on Steelers.com:

To say that defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau eats, sleeps and breaths football is not an understatement. The mastermind behind the Steelers defense that was once again ranked number one in the NFL last season laid out a new defensive package for the team at OTA’s on Tuesday and it came to him the night before.

“He gave us a new defense today that he thought about last night when he was in bed,” said an amazed James Farrior. “He drew something up for us today. We expect stuff like that from Coach LeBeau.

“He is constantly thinking of ways we can do better,” said defensive end Brett Keisel. “We put in a whole new package today that the wizard came up with last night. He was making some potion and somehow these X’s and O’s came up and it worked really well today so I am sure it’s something we will use.”

To read the entire article, which includes some more of Keisel's thoughts on LeBeau, click here.

Hoge Starks Ward Celebrity Golf Tournament for Children:

Keisel participated in the golf event May 18th.

Since 1994, the Hoge Starks Ward Celebrity Golf Classic for Children has raised more than $1,825,000 for children in need. Former Steelers player Merril Hoge, along with current Steelers Max Starks and Hines Ward, invite Steelers coaches and players, and other celebrities, to golf with foursomes from the area and from across the country to raise awareness and funds for programs of the Highmark Caring Foundation.

To see a video from the event, click here.

To see a screen capture of Keisel at the event, click here.

I will add more photos from the golf tourney if they are available, so check back.

May 15, 2009

Steelers heading to the White House

From Ed Bouchette, of the Post Gazette:

The Steelers will visit the White House Thursday at the request of President Barack Obama.

The traditional visit by the Super Bowl champions will take place at some point in the afternoon. The Steelers last visited the White House as Super Bowl champions in 2006, when George W. Bush was president.

To see a larger version of the picture to the left, and a couple more from the 2006 visit, click here.

I will post any pictures I find of the visit as they become available.

Special offer:

Erin, at Big Ben News has an exclusive offer to visitors of her site!

Artist Robert Cherewick has released a special Artist's Reserve Edition of his popular sold-out print, "The Rookie" to fans of Erin's site. This amazing print features Ben Roethlisberger in his rookie year, and is autographed by Ben. The likeness is incredible!

Don't wait! There are a limited amount of prints available, and if you mention Erin's site, you will receive a GREAT deal on the price!

Click here to view the print, and check out the amazing offer! It is posted in the May 14th news.

May 13, 2009

News and photos

I added a few new photos to the Gallery. They are from another Steelers basketball game. Click here to see them.

And...

...Congratulations to Steelers assistant head coach/defensive line coach John Mitchell. Coach Mitchell will be inducted into the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2009 on May 30.

Also...

...Most of you know I also run a fan site on Heath Miller. I normally keep the News items separate for each site, but I wanted to make you aware of a great fundraiser Heath is involved with currently.

Heath hosts an event called, "Bid for Hope" for A Glimmer of Hope Foundation. The event raises money for breast cancer research. Brett attends the event also.

Glimmer of Hope is now pleased to announce the launching of Candy for the Cure. Candy for the Cure is a program developed by Glimmer of Hope to help raise funds for the nations largest under 40 breast cancer study in the country. Every dollar raised goes to support breast cancer research and the fight for a cure.

The fundraiser offers some amazing prizes to win, and you will be supporting a wonderful cause!

Click here to read more about Candy for the Cure!

May 8, 2009

Keisel shoots hoops for good cause

Brett joined some teammates to play basketball at Norwin High School on April 18th. Money raised from the game went to support Norwin PTA programs.

I posted a news story about the game in the April 19 news below, but I have now added photos from the game.

To see the photos, click here.

Remember, you can enlarge any of the photos by clicking on them!

Steelers basketball...

...I added a few more dates to the schedule, which is located on the right side of this page. Thanks again to Clint for sending more dates to me. It sounds like the basketball team will wrap the season up May 15th.

Contract talk...

...No news on any talks or offers, but DL Coach John Mitchell explained to John Harris, from the Tribune-Review, why the Steelers likely will re-sign Keisel despite the franchise's philosophy of not always retaining its older players.

Keisel and Smith missed games last season because of injuries, but Mitchell said they weren't typical injuries.

"Brett and Aaron didn't have an injury because their athletic ability had diminished. Both of those guys were running to the ball when they got nicked up by one of their own players,'' Mitchell said. "I think they can be around for the next three, four or five years. Brett takes good care of himself, and so does Aaron.''

Mitchell went on to say this about his line:

"It makes my job very easy when you have guys like that here year in and year out. It's easy to coach them. They play well because they have been in this scheme a long time. If you look at some of the numbers from this past year, I think we played very well defensively.''

Brett recently spoke with Ed Bouchette, from the Post-Gazette, about his desire to stay with the Steelers.

"I'm just speaking from my knowledge of being around here and that this is a great place to be," said defensive end Brett Keisel. "You have great owners who care about you, a great family atmosphere here in the locker room, so it's a great place for a player like myself who was drafted here."

To read the rest of either article, click on their respective links.

May 5, 2009

Everyone wants to beat the champs

James Walker from ESPN.com spoke with Keisel during mini camp.

He asked Brett about the upcoming season, and how he felt about the team having a "target" on their backs due to their Superbowl win.

Keisel's response:

"I think this team has enough veterans on it, where we know how to prepare, we know how to come into camp and we know it's starting fresh," Keisel said. "When you win a Super Bowl, you know you're going to get everyone's best shot. Everyone wants to beat the champs, and we understand that."

Keisel went on to say that the team is staying focused on their goals: "It's our main goal," Keisel said of winning another Super Bowl. "It's what we want, and it's what we're striving for. It's the focus starting now.

"[Tomlin] put that in front of all of us at our team meeting and making it evident. We understand we're not going to win the Super Bowl this week. But at the same time, he wants us out every day when we're making our decisions thinking, 'Is this going to help us win a championship?'"

Walker also inquired on Keisel's contract status. He was told by Brett that there have been no contract discussions with the team to date. Brett is entering the final year of his contract.

May 3, 2009

Mini Camp 2009

Keisel as quarterback?

Probably not...the players seemed to have traded jerseys for a bit!

The Steelers held a mini camp this weekend. Coach Tomlin said it was a productive weekend, and he was happy to come away with no major injuries.

From Bob Labriola, Steelers.com:

There was an unmistakable energy in the air, even though it had been less than three months since they returned from Tampa with the franchise’s sixth Lombardi Trophy. The Pittsburgh Steelers were back at work as a whole team for the first time since that win over the Arizona Cardinals, but Coach Mike Tomlin made sure to keep it in perspective.

“You know I’m not a big proponent of football in shorts,” said Tomlin about minicamp. “The rookie minicamp, for me, is about teaching. It’s about getting to know these guys to see how they take in information, to see how they deal with the ups and downs of good plays and bad plays from an assignment standpoint. But football will be played in Latrobe.”

“I thought it was a very productive day for us,” said Tomlin. “These are instructional camps for us. This is a time for teaching, for giving and receiving information. Everybody was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and it was a productive day from that standpoint. We also were injury-free, which is another thing we desire to get done with these camps. I really like the energy and enthusiasm of the group today.

“It was a good start to our minicamp, but I don’t gauge the success of these weekends, because it’s not football, it’s teaching.”

Photos...

...can be viewed here.

To view all the photos from mini camp, including some good pictures of the players on "hat" day, click here.