July 27, 2012: The Davis girls show off their autographed mini-helmets signed by Big Ben after practice. From left to right, Abi (7 years old), Ami (7 years old), Ali (17 years old), and Emily (5 years old).
While at training camp, Kevin and his daughters witnessed an event unfold between a young man with cerebral palsy named Jeffrey Metz and Ben. Kevin wanted to share it on the website:
I wanted to share an amazing experience from my family’s first trip to Steelers Training Camp on Friday July 27th, 2012.
No matter where I have lived, I have always bled Black and Gold, so it was a special day for my family. My oldest daughter turned 17 and I turned 40 that day. We could hardly contain our excitement. Being as close as we were to the players was amazing.
We were sitting on the hill when practice ended, and when we saw how many people were lined up in front of the UPMC Experience, we wrote off the opportunity to get autographs. Then we noticed a crowd gathering about 30 feet to our left. Ben Roethlisberger was signing autographs!!! Erin, Ben was fantastic! He signed helmets for ALL FOUR of my girls and my nephew. Ben worked all the way down the fence and was good enough to sign my jersey too! As great as that was..that’s not the amazing part of this story.
As I was waiting, a handicapped gentleman was trying to make his way to Ben with the aid of metal crutches with leather straps. He was drenched in sweat, the effort to get to Ben a feat in itself. Steelers fans are the best fans on the planet, and many moved aside to let him get to Ben at the fence. I heard his uncle tell how far they had walked to get to him, after driving to Latrobe from FLORIDA to watch Ben practice.
After Ben heard the story, he turned to a worker near him and asked if they could get a wheelchair. When no one responded, Ben shouted out to a guy sitting in the last golf cart “Hey, C’MON!!†and waved him over. Ben turned to the fan and said, “You’ve done enough walking for today. I’m going to get you a ride.†Ben asked the fans to step away from the fence so he had a clear path to the cart. I also heard Ben say that he was going to ride with them back to their vehicle! The fan made his way along the fence, overcome with emotions, to the applause of the other fans lucky enough to be there. Ben signed autographs for another 10-15 minutes (it seemed like over an hour total time) before finally meeting the gentleman and his family at the golf cart.
Most guys in Ben’s position would not have done the same thing. But Ben showed no hesitation at all to help the guy out. As a parent of 4 I’m always looking for “teachable moments, “ and I can’t think of a better example of how to treat your fellow man. My daughter Ami Suffers from Turner’s Syndrome, and having a child with her own set of challenges really made this experience resonate with my family. Ben might remember the little girl in the pink dress he couldn’t see until she held her mini helmet up over her head. He looked down at her through the fence and said, “There you are sweetie. I got you!â€
It’s sad that no matter how many media personalities I have reached out to, no one seems interested in the good deed stories. It’s a shame that in today’s society a failed drug test is front page news, whereas a humanitarian deed is not newsworthy.
My message to you: Ben’s good deed did NOT go unnoticed! Please thank Ben for me. My family is grateful to have been a part of that day, and to have witnessed the true heart of our quarterback.
Sincerely,
Kevin M. Davis – Steelers fan for life!
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