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So far, veteran sports agent Leigh Steinberg has been cautious about the marketing of Ben Roethlisberger.

"Football is a team game," Steinberg said. "While the season is going on, we don't want to do anything to disrupt team chemistry."

But then again, he and Roethlisberger can afford to be patient and put off mulling over the best opportunities for endorsements until the offseason. Build a better mousetrap and the world may beat a path to your door, but excel as a rookie quarterback in a football-frenzied culture and the lucrative stampede of using a big name to hawk products can be thunderous.

Last week, packages of Big Ben's Beef Jerky -- made from solid strips of beef, as the package says -- adorned the shelves of Giant Eagle stores just in time for the tailgate revelry leading up to the game Saturday against the New York Jets. Steinberg also negotiated early deals -- call then Ben-dorsements -- with Nike and Campbell's Soup in which the No. 11 overall pick in the draft appeared in a commercial with other NFL players.

But then came Roethlisberger's ascension to the starter's job, an unprecedented 13-game winning streak by a first-year quarterback and rookie-of-the-year honors by The Associated Press.

Roethlisberger's No. 7 is the top selling jersey in the NFL Store. Local stores can't keep his T-shirt on their shelves, and he has an attorney protecting his interests against those trying to cash in by selling unlicensed, counterfeit products. David Letterman had him as a guest. There have been inquiries about movie cameos and music video appearances, and Roethlisberger has gotten calls from apparel makers and watch band manufacturers. Who wouldn't want a Big Ben wristwatch?

No one has been more astonished than Steinberg, who has represented such big name quarterbacks as Troy Aikman and Steve Young in his firmament of clients.

"Clearly, we have a national phenomenon rolling here," Steinberg said. "The first year is supposed to be a year of misadventure for a rookie quarterback. No one has been this successful this fast. It defies the laws of gravity."

But it doesn't defy the laws of marketing, and nothing succeeds like success.

The business world learned long ago that the public relates to successful athletes as long as they remain model citizens outside the arena. Some high-profile endorsers at the moment -- walking billboards, if you will -- are Peyton Manning for MasterCard, Donovan McNabb for Campbell's Soup and Michael Vick for Nike. All are quarterbacks.

So how much sizzle surrounds Roethlisberger and what is his endorsement potential?

"He's hot," Kerry Slatkoff of the New York City-based Ketchum Sports Network said. "For him to do what he's done at such a young age creates a following. Everyone's going to want to jump on the bandwagon. You have that perfect combination of a great performance on the field and a great product off the field."

While being vigilant about Roethlisberger keeping his focus on the field, Steinberg is keenly aware that the deeper the Steelers go into the postseason, the more significant the deals will be. And he's talking national soft drink brands, SUV makers and the like.

But first thing's first.

In this age of "Arli$$" and show-me-the-money representation, Steinberg is a methodical image-builder. He said every contract negotiated for his players has a clause that requires giving something back to the community that helped shaped him. Steinberg's clients have donated $60 million to charities and scholarships, and Roethlisberger is in the process of choosing a cause to support.

"I'm about trying to create a long-term career for him and long-term relationship with the city of Pittsburgh," Steinberg said. "I honestly believe that before we take something out of the city that we need to be giving something back. We do plan to do something with Pittsburgh charities. We just haven't decided which one yet. We'll do that in the offseason."

Earlier this week, Roethlisberger announced he was donating his first playoff check -- $18,000 -- to the tsunami relief effort.

Not that this hasn't been a rewarding season already for Roethlisberger. His signing bonus was $9 million. He earned $2.6 million in incentives on top of his $230,000 base salary. He has received something like $30,000 a pop for doing autograph sessions. And more playoff money could be coming. But the big prizes are still ahead.

Steinberg recalls how Aikman struggled through a miserable 1-15 record as a rookie with the Cowboys, then became a household name because of the Super Bowl.

"The most major marketing opportunity for any football player is participation and success in the Super Bowl," Steinberg said. "It has the effect of taking someone from the sports genre and crossing over to become a household name. The impact of the media exponentially increases the profile. We would start actively entertaining those possibilities in the offseason."

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