First Call: Steelers have recent familiarity with new defensive lineman; another Roethlisberger wins in Cleveland

Tuesday’s “First Call” looks at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ latest free agent signing. Ben Roethlisberger’s son continues family dominance in Cleveland. Kenny Pickett is teaming up with a Pitt recruit to stay sharp.

A pair of Pitt basketball rivals are reportedly involved in recruiting an ex-Panther. And the women’s ice hockey rivalry between Canada and the United States just produced another classic.

Another Roethlisberger wins in Cleveland

Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won 12 games in Cleveland over 15 tries during his career.

Now Benjamin Roethlisberger Jr. has his first win in Northeast Ohio as well.

Roethlisberger Jr. was the first-place finisher this weekend in the under 10 division of the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour’s Cleveland Junior Open. It was held at the Signature of Solon course.

The Steelers legend was quick to make the Cleveland connection on Twitter.

Another Roethlisberger wins in #Cleveland!

Congratulations to the 'Cleveland Junior Open' Champion, Benjamin Roethlisberger, Jr.!!! #HurricaneJuniorGolfTour

We hope everyone had a Blessed Easter! pic.twitter.com/6vL0Q8jHEW

— BigBen7.com (@_BigBen7) April 10, 2023

Roethlisberger Jr. shot an 87 on Saturday and an 81 on Sunday to win the tournament at 168 for the weekend. The HJGT has been around since 2007, providing competitive tournaments for golfers between the ages of 8-18.

Watts the news?

On his Twitter feed, GSE Football agent David Canter announced that the Steelers are signing his agency’s client, Armon Watts.

Excited to announce @gsefootball client @armonwatts will be signing with @steelers pic.twitter.com/rHaCe3zfXi

— David Canter (@davidcanter) April 11, 2023

The team hasn’t announced the signing. But Watts, a 26-year-old defensive lineman, later retweeted the post himself.

Watts is heading into his fifth season in the NFL. He spent 2022 with the Chicago Bears, playing in all 17 games, racking up 35 tackles and one sack.

The former Arkansas Razorback was a 2019 sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings. In 2021, he started nine games and played in all 17 accumulating five sacks, two forced fumbles and 46 tackles.

During Minnesota’s 36-28 Week 14 win over the Steelers in 2020, Watts sacked Roethlisberger.

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• Agent: Steelers sign free agent defensive lineman Armon Watts

Panther to Panther

Kenny Pickett’s offseason workouts include keeping future stars of his alma mater sharp.

Via SteelersNow.com, Pitt commit Zion Fowler posted a video of himself catching passes from the Steelers quarterback.

That Pitt connection @kennypickett10 @Pitt_FB pic.twitter.com/BYsHpCyUUv

— Zion Fowler ✞ (@CantGuardZion) April 10, 2023

Like Pickett, Fowler is from New Jersey. Fowler is a 6-foot-1, 185-pound wide receiver out of St. Peters Prep.

That’s in Jersey City. It is Minkah Fitzpatrick’s high school alma mater.

Familiar foes

The Pitt Panthers reached the NCAA Tournament and won two games there in 2022-23. They managed to do so despite only getting eight games out of John Hugley IV.

Hugley led the Panthers in scoring (14.8 points) and rebounds (7.9) in 2021-22 and was an honorable mention All-ACC nominee. However, he decided to transfer in advance of next season. Among other schools, George Michalowski of The Portal Report tweeted that Hugley is getting interest from two of Pitt’s biggest regional rivals: Penn State and West Virginia.

Pitt (D1) transfer John Hugley is available in the transfer portal. He has heard from the following programs, per source:

Memphis
Oklahoma
Nebraska
West Virginia
Vanderbilt
Georgia Tech
UCF
Penn State
Arkansas pic.twitter.com/nBn9Ez75j7

— The Portal Report (@ThePortalReport) April 10, 2023

Hugley was limited by a preseason knee injury and time spent “coping with mental health challenges.”

What a finish

The 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship is being held in Brampton, Canada. Tuesday night’s game between the Canadian and American teams was tension packed.

Pittsburgh Penguins executive operations fellow Amanda Kessel scored a game-tying goal with less than four seconds left in regulation.

Peep the timeclock #WomensWorlds | @AmandaKessel28 pic.twitter.com/AWSvxL55YR

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) April 11, 2023

The game then went to a nine-round shootout before Canada won it, courtesy of Jamie Lee Rattray.

THE SHOOTOUT WINNER!

LE BUT DE LA VICTOIRE EN TIRS DE BARRAGE! #WomensWorlds | #MondialFéminin | @ratt26 pic.twitter.com/p3hn2FL6uD

— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) April 11, 2023

The 4-3 victory allows Canada to claim the Group A preliminary round crown. The U.S. entered the game undefeated in preliminary play, having defeated Japan, Switzerland and Czechia, so they finished second. The two clubs will now focus on quarterfinal play starting Thursday.