Wednesday’s “First Call” features Ben Roethlisberger’s Hall of Fame campaign for two former teammates. We also discover another star player who may miss a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Plus, we get a look at Sunday’s Steelers-Cardinals officiating crew.

And we preview the college basketball night ahead for Duquesne and Robert Morris.

Another star down

Yet another star player on the Steelers schedule has been bitten by the injury bug.

First, it was quarterback Deshaun Watson in Cleveland. Then tight end Mark Andrews in Baltimore and Cincinnati QB Joe Burrow during the same Thursday night game.

Now word is Indianapolis Colts star running back Jonathan Taylor is going back on the shelf. Team owner Jim Irsay has told ESPN.com that Taylor will undergo thumb surgery in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Irsay is expecting him to be out for two to three weeks.

That could mean he misses the Colts home game against the Steelers in Week 15. The Steelers host Arizona this Sunday and the Patriots on Thursday night, Dec. 7, before traveling to Indy for a game on either Saturday, Dec. 16 or Sunday, Dec. 17.

Taylor missed the first four games of the season with an ankle injury after going through a contract dispute. He started the first two games slowly, accounting for just 37 yards on 14 carries. But last week, he had 91 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns.

Big Ben’s big pitch

Appearing on WDVE on Tuesday morning, Ben Roethlisberger stumped for some of his former teammates to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

There is little doubt that Roethlisberger will go in on the first ballot. But by the time that happens, he’s hoping James Harrison and Hines Ward are already there. Both men were named semifinalists for this year’s class on Tuesday.

“I’ve talked to many quarterbacks that were scared to death of him,” Roethlisberger said of Harrison. “I was scared to death of him, and he was on my team. … Any third down, any time that that guy dropped back to pass, you are thinking we might get the ball because he’s either making the guy throw it fast, (or) he’s going to hit the guy so hard that he loses his head or the ball, or he’s gonna get sacked.”

Meanwhile, Ward was often labeled as a selfless player because of how hard he worked in the blocking aspect of his game. But Roethlisberger complimented Ward for being selfish in the right ways at the right times.

“If he got the ball around the 5-yard line, Hines Ward was the most selfish guy on the football field because he was getting in that end zone,” Roethlisberger said. “If he sniffed the end zone, he was going to find a way to get in. That’s what made him great. The selfishness to get in the end zone to help the team.”

The Hall of Fame Class of 2024 will be revealed before Super Bowl LVIII. It is in Las Vegas on Feb. 8, 2024.

Flags flyin’?

We may see a heavy dose of penalty flags on Sunday when the Steelers host the Arizona Cardinals.

Referee Land Clark’s crew is working the game. Via the always informative NFLpenalties.com website, that group has totaled 146 assessed penalties, second most in the NFL. Their total flag count of 173 is the fourth most in the NFL.

Clark’s crew has tallied 33 offensive holding calls this year, tied for second most in the NFL. The Cardinals have been flagged for offensive holding 18 times, one off the lead of 19 set by the Kansas City Chiefs.

That could mean good news for Steelers pass rushers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.

Clark and company haven’t worked a Steelers game yet this year. They did work a Cardinals game back on Sept. 17, a 31-28 loss to the New York Giants. They dropped 17 flags that day, eight against Arizona and nine against the Giants.

Back at it

The Duquesne men’s basketball team (4-2) packed four games into the span of a week from Nov. 10-17. They went 3-1 in that stretch.

Then they lost 89-79 at Nebraska on Nov. 22. So after all that game action, head coach Keith Dambrot gave his team more in-season time off than he had to any club he had ever coached, giving the players off through the holiday weekend.

Now, they are getting ready for their first game in a week against UC Irvine. The Anteaters visit the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. Wednesday. After losing their debut to San Jose State, UC Irvine has won six in a row, including a victory over (then) No. 16 USC. Russell Turner’s team has more wins than any other team in the Big West so far this season.

As for Robert Morris, the Colonials (2-4) begin Horizon League action on the road against Northern Kentucky on Wednesday night. The Norse (3-3) won the conference last year and are picked to do so again this season.