PITTSBURGH -- An hour and a half before the Steelers’ penultimate regular-season home game on Dec. 19, Ryan Smith held a glass bottle of Redd’s Angry Ale in a parking lot outside Heinz Field. With yellow, black and gray camouflage pants, a white No. 7 Ben Roethlisberger jersey and a gold beanie with “Big 7 Ben” stitched across the crown, Smith blended into the crowd of pregame revelers.
A schoolteacher in Fremont, Ohio, Smith, who is a few years older than Roethlisberger, still remembers seeing the quarterback play at nearby Findlay (Ohio) High School. As a senior, Roethlisberger torched Smith’s alma mater for seven touchdowns.