There are a couple of sure signs that a professional athlete has "arrived." Replicas of his jersey are spotted on everyone from little kids to middle-aged men, late-night talk show hosts ask him to chat before a national audience, and a restaurant might even name a sandwich after him.

	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Big Ben's Beef Jerky will hit the shelves at local Giant Eagle supermarkets and GetGo convenience stores this weekend. Click photo for larger image.

For a select few, however, the biggest measure of a ballplayer's fame and popularity comes with being asked to put his smiling mug on a jar of peanut butter, bottle of barbecue sauce or box of cereal.

In the case of the Steelers' wunderkind Ben Roethlisberger -- who yesterday was named by the Associated Press the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year -- fame means having his face on a package of beef jerky.

This weekend, 12,000 bags of Big Ben's Beef Jerky will hit the shelves at local Giant Eagle supermarkets and GetGo convenience stores, giving scores of Steelers fans something healthful and nutritious to chew on (it's 97 percent fat-free and packed with protein) as they root for them in the playoffs. Available in two flavors, original and teriyaki, it will retail for $4.99.

Roethlisberger, who logged a dazzling and record-breaking 13 consecutive wins as quarterback, is hardly the first to cash in on his success on the playing field at the grocery store. His 4-ounce bag of dried beef is only the latest in a string of Steelers, Pirates and Penguins-related food products marketed by Robinson-based PLB Sports. Previous foodstuffs with a Pittsburgh sports connection include Hines Ward 86 Steak Sauce, unveiled in 2002; an entire line of Jerome Bettis "The Bus" condiments, launched in 1997-98; and last year's Tommy Gun Cereal, for quarterback Tommy Maddox.

A division of the specialty food marketing company Public Label Brands, PLB Sports introduced its first Pittsburgh-related product -- Jagr Creamy Peanut Butter -- in 1997 for Penguins forward Jaromir Jagr. Spurred by its success, (Darius) Kasparaitis Krunchers, a "Russian-style" pickle, soon followed, along with five products hand-picked by Bettis (barbecue sauce, mustard, peanut butter, salsa and pickles).

So far, PLB has signed more than 50 athletes from all over the country for products as varied as mustard, popcorn, macaroni and cheese and salad dressing. However, only about a dozen products are on grocers' shelves at any one time, says Ty Ballou, PLB's president and founder. Products are rarely sold for more than two years.

Reflecting the NFL's dominance, football players are the most marketable athletes. Baseball players rate second, followed by hockey players and NBA stars, says Ballou.

In wooing shooting star Roethlisberger for its latest offering, PLB followed its proven "template" of choosing athletes that not only exude personality and charisma but also offer a heartwarming story. Simply put, it's not enough to be the best; you also have to be inspiring.

"If we can find an athlete who has taken a difficult path that people can identify with and respond to, that's ideal," says Ballou.

That scenario would include sports figures such as Maddox, who replaced starter Kordell Stewart three games into the 2002 season and survived a career-threatening hit in midseason that left him momentarily paralyzed.

Maddox, who was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year for 2003, ended up with his likeness on two products -- cereal and barbecue sauce -- with total sales of more than 50,000 units.

Post-Gazette Click photo for larger image. Food products endorsed by Pittsburgh athletes 2004 Geronimo Blitzburgh Medium Super Salsa (Will be out later this week, available just during the playoffs.) Big Ben's beef jerky 2003 Tommy Gun cereal (Tommy Maddox) Tommy Gun barbecue sauce (Tommy Maddox)in two flavors, original and mesquite 2002 Hines Ward 86 steak sauce 2001 Lynn Swann's Super 88 cereal 2000 (Brian) Giles No Guts No Glory sports drink 1999 (Jason) Kendall Krunch cereal 1998 (Jerome) Bettis "The Bus" peanut butter (Jerome) Bettis "The Bus" salsa (Jerome) Bettis "The Bus" pickles 1997 (Jaromir) Jagr creamy peanut butter (Darius) Kasparaitis Krunchers Russian-style dill pickles (Jerome) Bettis "The Bus" barbecue sauce (Jerome) Bettis "The Bus" mustard

Prepared for bad behavior

Athletes must also eschew the kind of bad-boy behavior and scandals that land people in jail and generate lawsuits. All PLB contracts, in fact, feature a morality clause that allows the company to void the deal and retailers to remove the items from the shelf.

Yet, lest you think the athlete does nothing more than lend his gorgeous face to the marketing campaign, think again. Not only do they help choose the product, they also sign off on the packaging and have a hand in fine-tuning the taste.

"It gives them ownership," says Ballou.

Though the athletes -- and often a designated charity -- share in the profits, their only real risk is a bruised ego (and maybe some locker room razzing) if their product flops.

Surprisingly, an athlete's popularity doesn't always translate into big sales. Ward's steak sauce, launched two years ago, is a case in point. PLB ended up selling just 14,600 bottles of the spicy stuff, while sales of (Doug) Flutie Flakes, the product for which the company is probably best known, have reached almost 3 million boxes since 1998.

In hindsight, Ballou says, the company should have realized that steak sauce falls into the "low-incidence" category, which means it's not used as much as cereal, mustard or peanut butter.

"We just didn't pick the right product."

PLB athletes donate an average of 25 percent of the proceeds from their products to a charity or foundation. But the actual amount depends on the athlete. Former St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, for instance, donated 100 percent of the proceeds of his Krunch Time Cereal to Camp Barnabas, a Christian summer camp for children with disabilities. Flutie, who is now with the San Diego Chargers, donated half of all profits to the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism.

Jagr in the lead

PLB's best-selling product in Pittsburgh was for Jagr, now a New York Ranger, whose smiling face helped sell more than 178,000 jars of peanut butter over three years. But Bettis' line of condiments has proved the most popular overall, racking up total sales of 231,694 units.

"There's just something about him," says Ballou.

As with all their other products, PLB executives are hoping Big Ben's Beef Jerky will enjoy a long shelf life, whether or not the young quarterback leads the Steelers to the Super Bowl. After all, Pittsburghers are just getting to know him.

"The programs that last the longest are the ones where people really like the person," says Ballou. "They have to want to buy the product, even if the team is losing, which is hard to do."