Joey Porter Sr says Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback he received a Tremendous Bowl with on the Pittsburgh Steelers, will not be “ individual”.
Porter was talking on a podcast throughout Tremendous Bowl week when he made the feedback. He and Roethlisberger received Tremendous Bowl XL with Pittsburgh on the finish of the 2005 season.
Porter mentioned Roethlisberger and one other former Steeler, James Harrison, had damaged a code by criticizing Mike Tomlin, who departed as Pittsburgh head coach in January after 19 seasons in cost, on their very own podcasts.
“[Harrison] broke the brotherhood,” Porter mentioned on Cameron Heyward’s Not Simply Soccer podcast. “Then [Roethlisberger] undoubtedly broke the brotherhood. Out of anyone that ought to speak, he ought to by no means seize a microphone and actually speak Steeler enterprise. As a result of if we speak Steelers enterprise, his ass is foul of all foul. The shit that he did is foul of all foul. He’s not teammate.
“Gained the Tremendous Bowl with him, however the individual, he’s simply not teammate. He is aware of that. Anyone within the Steelers constructing is aware of that, however we protected him as a result of I’ve solely received one Tremendous Bowl and that was my quarterback. So do I like my quarterback? Yeah, however is he individual? No.”
Porter backed up his feedback by saying that Roethlisberger had as soon as refused to signal memorabilia for his teammates’ households.
“He was telling folks, ‘No, I’m not going to signal that,’” Porter mentioned. “So as soon as he did that, who they arrive and inform? The captain. When he first did it to Chris Hoke, I used to be like, ‘Rattling, that’s tousled, man.’ I grabbed it from Hoke, took it over there and instructed him to signal it. However then when he did that to Aaron Smith, now I received to have a gathering [with Roethlisberger]. Like, you’re a rookie, you’re a younger man.
“You may’t inform my vets you’re too cool to signal for my vets. Who the hell is simply too cool to signal to your teammate? I’m not a fan.”
Porter added that Roethlisberger was appointed Steelers crew captain, quite than being voted in by his fellow gamers.
“He got here within the period the place they only gave you the ‘C’ – as a result of if he wasn’t a captain, he’d most likely have a hissy match. However no one’s going to vote for him as captain as a result of he don’t don’t have any captain high quality,” Porter mentioned.
Earlier than Tomlin’s departure from the Steelers, Roethlisberger recommended his former coach must be fired, saying it was time for the crew to “clear home”.
Roethlisberger later backtracked on the feedback. “Simply because I mentioned there’s a time for some new issues, that’s simply saying that I feel Coach Tomlin, if he desires to maneuver on, he has each proper to maneuver on – it’s not they need to,” he mentioned.
Porter will not be the one teammate to criticize Roethlisberger. After the quarterback was suspended for violating the NFL’s private conduct coverage after allegations of sexual assault, for which Roethlisberger was by no means criminally charged, Steelers receiver Hines Ward mentioned the “suspension is justified”. Present Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph additionally appeared to back Porter’s comments on social media.
Porter left the Steelers in 2007 and Roethlisberger admitted in 2010 that he had not behaved effectively previously.
“I received caught up being Large Ben the entire time,” Roethlisberger said. “I misplaced observe of who Ben Roethlisberger was. It’s not one thing I’m happy with … I used to be gaining every thing, however I used to be dropping lots of who I used to be raised to be.”
Porter was a three-time All Professional linebacker throughout his time with the Steelers, and has retained hyperlinks with the crew in retirement. He was their exterior linebackers coach from 2015 to 2018, and his son Joey Jr has performed cornerback for the crew since they drafted him in 2023.
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