Nervous Roethlisberger encouraged by fan support

LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — Ben Roethlisberger was so worried that the Pittsburgh Steelers fans who once embraced him would boo him, he couldn’t recall being so nervous and apprehensive before a football practice.

What Roethlisberger didn’t expect was this: Waves of cheering supporters wearing his No. 7 jersey and knocking over temporary security fences to get the autograph of a player whose vulgar off-field behavior led the NFL to suspend him for six games.

Roethlisberger, so disliked in Pittsburgh a few months ago that he wondered if he’d ever regain a sliver of his previous support, was greeted warmly by an enthusiastic crowd estimated at 10,000 on Saturday at Saint Vincent College. He heard few, if any jeers, and many fans appeared to go out of their way to embrace him.

There were cheers when Roethlisberger and wide receiver Hines Ward arrived on the practice field together, and more when the quarterback found Antwaan Randle El on a pass route.

Pumped up by the response, Roethlisberger couldn’t recall throwing a single incompletion during a nearly two-hour practice.

“I was nervous, scared, anxious, a lot of emotions,” Roethlisberger said.

Complete story appears in Sunday’s edition of The Vindicator.