Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger funding Sacramento’s next police K-9

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger awarded a grant to the Sacramento Police Department that has allowed it to add a dog to its K-9 unit.

Though Roethlisberger was sidelined this season with an elbow injury, he pledged to distribute grants toward the K-9 units of police and fire agencies in the NFL cities and surrounding communities of each road game in 2019, choosing the recipients based on proposals submitted by departments nationwide.

With the San Francisco 49ers hosting the Steelers in September a couple of hours away in Santa Clara, the Sacramento Police Department requested and received one of those grants, according to a Thursday news release by The Giving Back Fund, the parent organization of the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation.

“With this generous grant, the unit was able to purchase an additional K-9 for the department,” Sacramento Police K-9 Officer Alexander Wagstaff said in a statement. “The use of K-9s in our department is a vital component of effectively keeping the community safe.”

Sacramento Police spokesman Officer Justin Hanks said the grant was for $8,000.

The Sacramento Police Department previously said the cost of acquiring a new canine can range from $8,000 to $12,000, not including training costs. The department had 11 fully trained dogs as of last July and now has 12, Hanks said.

“We’re very fortunate to be in the position that we are able to help these K-9 units,” Roethlisberger said in a statement about his foundation. “The work that is performed by the dogs and their handlers as well as the bond that is formed is incredible. We’re just thrilled to do our small part.”

Roethlisberger’s foundation distributed $145,000 in K-9 grants the previous NFL season, with $70,000 donated in the Pittsburgh area and the other $75,000 split among departments near the team’s eight road game sites in 2018, according to the news release.

The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation has donated more than $2 million since 2007, $1.7 million of that toward K-9 programs, according to Thursday’s news release.

The foundation is part of The Giving Back Fund, a nonprofit that facilitates charitable giving from professional athletes and other celebrities.

The 49ers beat the Steelers, 24-20, in Week 3, one week after Roethlisberger went down for the season.