Ryan Shazier thanks Ben Roethlisberger for Pro Bowl tribute
— -- Injured Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier thanked Ben Roethlisberger for allowing him to be a part of the Pro Bowl, thanks to the quarterback's custom cleats that paid tribute to Shazier.
Shazier tweeted:
On Friday, Roethlisberger tweeted a picture of the cleats he planned to wear, which also paid tribute to late Steelers owner Dan Rooney.
Steelers players also wore T-shirts underneath their jerseys to honor Shazier. Fullback Roosevelt Nix made reference to the shirt in a tweet Sunday.
Shazier suffered a spinal injury during a Dec. 4 Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He underwent spinal stabilization surgery on Dec. 7. Shazier's father told WPXI-Pittsburgh on Jan. 4 that Shazier had regained feeling in his legs.
Eight Steelers, including Shazier, were voted into the Pro Bowl, and the team had 10 players in all receive nods for the game after injury replacements were selected. In addition, the Steelers' staff coached the AFC team. Roethlisberger told ESPN before the game that it was special to play with so many of his teammates Sunday, but he noted Shazier's absence.
"There's one guy that's supposed to be here that's not here but hopefully is watching, and that's Ryan. Ryan, we love you, we've got you on our cleats, we've got you on our shirts. We're loving you, buddy," Roethlisberger said on Sunday NFL Countdown.
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