as reported by "The Courier"

After Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers wage pigskin war with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, they will pig out on ribs from Tony's Restaurant in Findlay.

Ten people, including Tony's employees and friends, will head for Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on Sunday morning with 270 pounds of ribs, 170 pounds of chicken, bratwurst, hot dogs, broccoli salad, potato salad and baked beans. Oh, and lots of the cookies-and-cream pudding dessert which is Roethlisberger's favorite, Tony's owner Tom Brown said.

The food will be carried to Pittsburgh in a refrigerated truck. The convoy will include a pickup pulling a trailer full of kitchen supplies and equipment, pans, work tables, food warmers, cords, knives, forks, spoons, baskets for rolls, buckets of water and the ever-critical barbecue sauce. A van will pull six cookers.

In short, it will be provisions for 200 people.

An appetite for Tony's food is the only thing Roethlisberger, the Steelers' quarterback, has spread more widely among teammates than touchdown passes.

Steelers' left tackle Max Starks, who measures 6-foot-8 and 345 pounds, phoned in the catering request this week to Tony's. Starks and other offensive linemen have been treated to Tony's food when visiting Findlay with Roethlisberger, a Findlay High School graduate.

Starks also had Tony's cater his wedding rehearsal last June in Columbus. That was after Tony's catered a party for Roethlisberger, Tom Brown said.

But even among those heady occasions, Sunday in the parking lot of Heinz Field will be special, Brown said.

"I've always wanted to do that before I retire: Feed the team," Brown said.

Tony's fans need not worry the restaurant will be calling it quits soon. Brown just meant he considers Sunday a career day.

It also will be a huge day for Tony's assistant manager and decades-long Steelers fan Connie Tagliapietra.

"It's going to be awesome because we actually will be around the players," Tagliapietra said.

At first she was questionable for Sunday. She was scheduled to work at the restaurant.

"I told my boss, if I wasn't going (to Pittsburgh), I was quitting," she said, laughing. She found a co-worker, a Browns fan, to fill in for her at the restaurant. So she will be seeing the Steelers, after all.

"Ben is the top of my list ... and then, next to him is (safety Troy) Polamalu and then (wide receiver) Hines Ward and (tight end) Heath Miller," she said.

Tagliapietra also hopes to watch some of the game. The Tony's crew will not start cooking until the fourth quarter.

Save for the distinctive customers, the job would be routine. Tony's takes its fare on the road more than 20 times per year to rib-offs, parties and meetings, Brown said. Two hundred people is an average number of people to feed, Tagliapietra said.

But nobody questions it will be a big deal.

"We're just overwhelmed to be able to go and cook for the team," she said. "It's the opportunity of a lifetime."

Wilin: 419-427-8413,