Former Steelers Teammate Rips Ben Roethlisberger
Joey Porter and Ben Roethlisberger were two of the most prominent Pittsburgh Steelers of the 2000s. Porter just called his former quarterback out on a podcast, ripping him to shreds. He called him a bad person and more. He also criticized former linebacker James Harrison after he and the former QB talked about Mike Tomlin.
Joey Porter calls out Ben Roethlisberger, James Harrison
One thing Joey Porter apparently does not appreciate is any talk about his former coach. He played under Mike Tomlin and then coached alongside him for some time, and when Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison discussed what happened with Tomlin, Porter took issue.
He said via ESPN, "(Harrison) broke the brotherhood. Then 7 (Roethlisberger) definitely broke the brotherhood. Out of anybody that should talk, he should never grab a microphone and really talk Steeler business. Because if we talk Steelers business, his ass is foul of all foul. The s--- that he did is foul of all foul. He's not a good teammate."
Porter admitted that they did win a Super Bowl with Roethlisberger under center, but that outside of a football talent standpoint, the QB was not it. "The person, he's just not a good teammate. He knows that. Anybody in the Steelers building knows that, but we protected him because I've only won one Super Bowl and that was my quarterback. So do I love my quarterback? Yeah. But is he a good person? No," he said resolutely.
Porter recounted to Cameron Heyward that he really didn't like some of the things Roethlisberger did in his rookie season, which was when the linebacker was a captain for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He apparently refused to sign anything for his teammates' families.
"Once he did that, who they come and tell? The captain," Porter revealed. "When he first did it to Chris Hoke, I was like, 'Damn, that's messed up, man.' I grabbed it from Hoke, took it over there and told him to sign it. But then when he did that to Aaron Smith, now I got to have a meeting (with Roethlisberger). Like, you're a rookie, you're a young guy."
He couldn't believe that the quarterback, as a rookie, already thought he was "too cool" to sign memorabilia for veteran teammates. That behavior didn't sit right with Porter, who also didn't love that Roethlisberger eventually became a captain.
"We voted to be captains," Porter told Heyward. "You had to be voted in. He came in the era where they just gave you the 'C' -- because if he wasn't a captain, he'd probably have a hissy fit. But nobody's going to vote for him as captain because he don't have no captain quality."
All of this upset Porter, but he may have been more upset with Harrison. The former linebacker was Porter's teammate for four years, and he believes it was Mike Tomlin's coaching that helped him make a name for himself in the NFL.
"You think the head coach didn't have his hand in making that player? So when you say he did nothing for you, that's crazy," Porter said of Harrison. "Then it's like, damn, why would you take a shot at the guy who changed your life? Because (Bill) Cowher didn't change your life. Cowher cut you three times."
Both Harrison and Roethlisberger were critical of Tomlin. However, the quarterback later walked back some of his comments. He clarified that he didn't think the franchise should've moved on, but that the coach had every right to step down. That's what Tomlin did, which is an important distinction from being fired. He chose not to coach anymore.
