Pittsburgh Steelers’ QB, Ben Roethlisberger had one more reason to give thanks this Turkey Day. He and wife, Ashley Harlan, welcomed their first son on the eve of Thanksgiving Day, according to a recent report published by Us Weekly.

Big Ben, as he was nicknamed by his team mates, spent the entire Thanksgiving Day with his wife, Ashley and his newly born son, Benjamin Roethlisberger Jr. The two-time winner of the Super-Bowl broke the news on Thursday morning informing fans that his first child has seen the light of day on Wednesday at around 10:06 p.m. He further added that Little Ben weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce and over 19 inches long at the time of the birth.

The Ohio-native quarterback was relieved to announce that both the mother and the child were doing well, so they would soon be able to return home. In the end, he thanked all his friends and fans for their thoughts and prayers.

Big Ben was forced to skip some of Pittsburgh’s games after suffering a severe injury in a bump with linebacker Justin Houston during the third quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs competition on November 12. Roethlisberger was diagnosed with a sprained shoulder and a rib injury, so he could not take part in his team’s competitions or trainings.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ coach was unable to estimate when Roethlisberger will return on the field. The quarterback is now undergoing various medical practices to recover from his injury as the team fears their postseason berth could be in jeopardy.

Either way, the newly dad was glad that he could spend some time with his wife and his son. In fact, the quarterback declared during an interview last summer that he would rather miss a game than be absent at his child’s birth.