Long before Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger picked up the nickname “Big Ben,” there was a large clock tower just off the Thames River in London that had a bell that went by the same name.
Now the two Big Bens are coming together in advance of the Steelers’ visit to Wembley Stadium to take on the Vikings during the 2013 season. Roethlisberger will be in the United Kingdom this week to promote that game as well as remind Londoners about why we’re celebrating Independence Day this Thursday.
Mostly he’ll be there to promote the game, though. Roethlisberger will hold a forum Tuesday with 30 fans selected to ask him questions about his career, playing in London and more. The fans have to be members of the Union Jax, the UK fan club for the Jaguars that NFLUK launched to celebrate Jacksonville’s commitment to playing games in the UK for the next four seasons.
With a new member of the royal family coming any day now, Roethlisberger might also want to leave a few boxes of Terrible Towels at Buckingham Palace for Prince William. You can never have enough towels on hands with a newborn in the house, so you might as well take advantage of that by marketing the team to a potential new fan at the same time.