Roethlisberger gifts autographed balls to Mayo Clinic patient, doctor
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tracked down a doctor-patient duo from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. who had been the victims of a fake autograph.
Dr. John Stulak said he was given a football as a gift nine years ago that he believed to be signed by Roethlisberger, according to KAAL-TV Minnesota. Dr. Stulak re-gifted that football to patient Seth Bayles, who's fighting an autoimmune disease. The story caught the attention of Roethlisberger's social media and website manager who showed him the feature.
Roethlisberger informed the two Steelers fans of the mistaken fake autograph and recently sent them a FaceTime video in order to correct the mixup.
"Hey, Seth. Hey Doctor Stu. Ben Roethlisberger here, sitting in our practice locker room getting ready to go out for practice. I wanted to shoot you a quick note to say 'Thank You for being Steelers fans'. I appreciate your guy's support. I saw your video online. Doctor Stu, how you gave the football to Seth, I thought that was really, really cool. But something kind of caught me off guard; that the autograph wasn't mine.
So I just wanted to send you a video just to let you know that I appreciate you guy's support. And Seth why don't you check with your mom? She might have something for you " and you too, Doc. And Doc, thanks for all you do. You're a true hero. Seth, keep up the good fight brother. Pulling for you, praying for you and thanks for your support. Alright pal, talk to you later."
At the end of Roethlisberger's message, Seth's mom, Julie, revealed a pair of autographed footballs, addressed to Dr. Stulak and Seth.
"Seth - You are the MAN!" wrote Roethlisberger.
"Dr. Stulak you are a real hero!" he said.
The gesture was well received.
"When (the video) started playing, just to hear him say our names " that's really something special," said Dr. Stulak. "He (Roethlisberger) has brought us world championships, he brought us a lot of happiness to a very depressed area."
With h/t to ESPN
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