Roethlisberger confirms plans for July wedding to New Castle woman

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ben Roethlisberger will marry a 26-year-old physician’s assistant whom he said he met during training camp in 2005 and has been friends with ever since, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for a story in Thursday’s editions.

Roethlisberger, speaking publicly for the first time since the Steelers’ loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl, talked about his fiancee, her family and the impact their engagement has had on everyone involved since it leaked out in various media outlets late last year.

Roethlisberger confirmed his July 23 wedding plans to Ashley Harlan, who lives in New Castle. Roethlisberger was interviewed Wednesday at his home north of Pittsburgh.

The wedding is scheduled only a week before the Steelers are to being training camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, and Roethlisberger joked that his bride-to-be may be hoping that the NFL lockout drags on.

“I think a small part of her is hoping we hold out for a week so we can honeymoon,” Roethlisberger told the Post-Gazette.