This Is Your Brain On Sports

Coming out of the sunshine into the murky indoor light, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger can’t quite believe his eyes. “Cool. Crazy cool,” he says, as he surveys a vast playground: a mini football field, basketball court and hockey rink; a state-of-the-art gym; a baseball batting cage, and a $100,000 golf simulator. More amazing is that “Big Ben” isn’t here for recess, but for science class. He’s the centerpiece of an experiment in terror: can he get rid of a football before an onrushing lineman plants him in the turf? Turns out when the lineman charges unfettered, Roethlisberger is helpless. But when that lineman is steered wide by a traffic cone—one measly foot—the QB hits his target every time. “I really learned something today,” he says. “I can tell my guys, ‘Look, sometimes you’re gonna miss a block, but don’t give up. If you can just push your guy out one foot, I can get the job done’.”

Roethlisberger was just one of dozens of athletes who paraded into an airplane hangar near the L.A. airport this summer to help Fox Sports Net produce its most ambitious TV show yet. Starting Sept. 30, “Sport Science” ... // 63% Remaining