Butler County grads at suspended QB's workout
McCANDLESS TWP — Neither Ryan Fennell nor Chase Rowe have much of a football background.
But they have a football memory.
Fennell, a 2010 Butler graduate and freshman pitcher-designated hitter on the La Roche College baseball team, witnessed a workout by suspended Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger Sept. 30 in the school's gym.
Fennell caught an autographed football from Roethlisberger after the workout.
Rowe, a Knoch graduate and the La Roche baseball coach, caught passes from Roethlisberger while the quarterback was doing some drills and received an autographed football from him as well.
"(La Roche basketball coach) Scott Lang and I caught passes from him," Rowe said. "Roethlisberger's quarterback coach had called the college earlier and asked if he could come in the gym and work out.
"Scott and I were there when he arrived and were asked to show him around. He needed a couple of guys to catch some passes, so we volunteered."
Lang and Rowe caught passes from Roethlisberger for nearly 90 minutes.
"It was pretty cool, I guess," Rowe said. "We weren't running patterns or anything. We'd go to different spots in the gym and he would work on different-type passes.
"It was a dream come true for Scott. He always wanted to catch a pass from a Super Bowl quarterback. Me? I can't even throw a football."
The session was supposed to be private, but about 70 people stood along the railing of a walkway above the gym.
"A friend texted me and told me (Roethlisberger) was down there," Fennell said. "Word got around pretty quickly."
Once he completed his workout, Roethlisberger signed each of the 10 footballs he was using and tossed them to the onlookers.
Fennell was one of his targets.
"He looked right at me and motioned like he was going to throw me a ball," Fennell said. "I stuck my hands out and it came right to me.
"I'll probably get a frame for this ball and display it someplace. That was exciting."
Rowe said Roethlisberger tossed a pair of football cleats to fans as well.
"He struck me as a pretty nice guy," the La Roche coach said. "He was good to everybody there. Having a two-time Super Bowl champion in our gym was something different, that's for sure.
"I'll probably give my football to my son. I'll put it in his room somewhere."
