Big Ben faces his favorites

Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward both grew up rooting for the 49ers.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ben Roethlisberger can’t hide his excitement when talking about the San Francisco 49ers, the team he rooted for while growing up.

Neither can Steelers teammate Hines Ward, who has been in the NFL since 1998 yet will play San Francisco — like Big Ben, his favorite team as a kid — for the first time today.

Steelers liking the 49ers? That’s a switch.

“Pittsburgh and San Francisco were the teams that I grew up watching all the time,” said Ward, who was raised in suburban Atlanta. “Joe Montana, Jerry Rice. Getting the opportunity to play San Francisco is definitely one of my craziest dreams because never in my wildest imagination would I think I would be playing against the San Francisco 49ers.”

Roethlisberger is a little different. He is from Findlay, an area better known for its Browns and Bengals fans, yet he very much wanted to play for the 49ers. He wears No. 7 in honor of John Elway, but the 49ers were his team.

He doesn’t hide that fact, either, even if the 49ers are looked upon jealously by some in Pittsburgh for winning five Super Bowls before the Steelers did. The Steelers won four during the 1974-79 seasons, but didn’t win their fifth until two seasons ago.

The Cowboys are the only other team to win five Super Bowls.

Favorite team

“The 49ers were my favorite team growing up; I was a Joe Montana and Jerry Rice guy,” Roethlisberger said. “This is my first time getting to play them, so I’m kind of excited about that. Everyone knows the rich tradition of both teams, but the two teams are different from they were back in the day.”

No kidding.

Back in the ’80s and ’90s, the 49ers were a stretch-the-field team that didn’t have a single 100-yard rusher in their five Super Bowl victories. Now, much of the offense comes from last year’s No. 3 NFL rusher, Frank Gore, who had 81 yards against the Rams last weekend and is coming off a 1,695-yard season.

However, 49ers quarterback Alex Smith hasn’t resembled Montana or Steve Young yet during a brief career that’s decidedly a work in progress for the No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft.

This might not be the easiest way for Smith to find his way, going against a Pittsburgh defense that has allowed a league-low 10 points in two games. The Steelers also have 10 sacks.

“He’s watching film right now saying, ‘What the heck are they doing?’ ” linebacker Larry Foote said. “Hopefully he’ll be thinking about us all week and coach [Dick] LeBeau will show him something a little different.”