Taking time off during bye

The Steelers will be able to enjoy a long weekend thanks to their bye, and players are going to take advantage of some free time in a variety of ways.

Quite of a few of them are planning family time, including wide receiver Arnaz Battle whose family is in Texas.

“I am going to go back to Dallas and spend time with my wife and kids,” said Battle. “That is it.”

Running back Isaac Redman plans on going home to see his girlfriend, who is expecting their first child and spend time relaxing. Ryan Clark is going back to Louisiana to see his parents and shoot a segment with Tony Dungy about his church.

For tight end Matt Spaeth, it’s going to be about celebrating a holiday with his family at home in Minnesota.

“It just so happened to work out that my mom’s side of the family does Christmas early, usually in October,” said Spaeth. “We didn’t plan it, but it’s that weekend back home. So I get to go to family Christmas.”

There still will be football. Linebacker Larry Foote plans on going back to Detroit to see his son Trev-eon play, while guard Chris Kemoeatu hopes to make the trip to Washington, D.C. to watch his brother Ma’ake play for the Washington Redskins against the Green Bay Packers.

For tackle Max Starks, it will be all about his college alma mater, with a little side trip.

“I plan on going to Universal Studios Island of Adventures and going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” said Starks. “And then watching the University of Florida Fighting Gators triumphantly beat the Louisiana State University Tigers.”

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Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, will be honored by the team he played for, the Detroit Lions on Sunday during halftime of their game against the St. Louis Rams.

LeBeau will be inducted into the Pride of the Lions, a display at Ford Field that honors the Lions top players and will receive his Hall of Fame ring.

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While the Steelers enjoy their bye weekend, they will do so with a 3-1 record, something many outside of the organization did not expect going into the season without Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback. But the players expected even more.

“The guys in the locker room are prideful guys,” said wide receiver Hines Ward. “Not having him out there, the season wasn’t over. We still had to go out there and play ball. We came together as a unit. We are 50 some seconds away from being 4-0. If you would have said we would have been 3-1 at the beginning of the year without Ben, nobody outside of the locker room gave us a chance. It’s a great credit to the team, organization and coaching staff. We believe in each other.”