Big Ben clocks into Backyard Football

By Tim Surette, GameSpotPosted Aug 10, 2006 3:24 pm PT

Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger named cover athlete for GBA's Backyard Football 2007.

When you are the winning quarterback of the Super Bowl, promotional opportunities roll in. Unfortunately for Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback of the defending NFL champion Pittsburgh Steelers, the honor for cover athlete for Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 07 was already awarded to last season's NFL MVP, Shaun Alexander of the Seattle Seahawks.

However, there is still one football game--albeit one with less prestige--out there that needed some superstar shilling. Today, "Big Ben" was revealed as the spokesperson and cover athlete for Backyard Football 07, the kids' football game for the Game Boy Advance.

"Ben Roethlisberger is an inspiration to kids who love football. His commitment to his team and loyalty to his community epitomizes the Backyard Sports philosophy," said Humongous copresident Lauren Schechtman Allen.

Roethlisberger can also teach kids a thing or two about motorcycle safety. The star was involved in an off-season motorcycle crash in June, which nearly cost him his life--he was not wearing a helmet. Roethlisberger has since recovered from surgery and is expected to start the Steelers' preseason opener this weekend.

Backyard Football 07 is rated E for Everyone and will retail for $29.99 when it goes on sale in mid-September.

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rl_41
Posted Aug 12, 2006 9:32 am PT

lol ffgothic
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ffgothic
Posted Aug 11, 2006 6:52 am PT

LET'S GO STEELERS! let's just hope it will make younger kids wear their bicycle helmets
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VegetaMaelstrom
Posted Aug 10, 2006 6:05 pm PT

I love Tim Surette's dig at Ben's stupidity in not wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle. Priceless.
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OfficialBed
Posted Aug 10, 2006 5:37 pm PT

ya, this is.....well.....good?.....no its not...*sigh....ill take the next news article for $800 please
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devilzrule27
Posted Aug 10, 2006 4:20 pm PT

Perfect role model for little kids. And remember kiddies never wear your helmet while riding a bike, its not cool!
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stewart24
Posted Aug 10, 2006 4:05 pm PT

hurra next topic please
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TimSpot
Posted Aug 10, 2006 3:47 pm PT

Actually - the NFL exclusive license doesn't cover children's games... think of it as the NFL's take on Muppet Babies.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/sports/backyardbaseball2007/news.html?sid=6146593&mode=recent
gunittv
Posted Aug 10, 2006 3:45 pm PT

lol
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sj41
Posted Aug 10, 2006 3:40 pm PT

They're able to get an NFL player as the cover athlete? I thought the exclusive contract covered players appearing in games. Hopefully this isn't costing Atari a lot of money since it's just a little gameboy football game.
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Lemieux66
Posted Aug 10, 2006 3:36 pm PT

Go Ben Go!
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CyleM
Posted Aug 10, 2006 3:31 pm PT

i'm so excited!!! i love big ben roethlisberger...
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Grease_Bits
Posted Aug 10, 2006 3:30 pm PT

W00T?
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