Joey Porter Sr.’s critique of Ben Roethlisberger grabbed the headlines, but his rant didn’t stop there. Lost in the noise was a pointed jab at James Harrison. Porter took exception to Harrison’s comments about Mike Tomlin not being a great coach, saying it was Tomlin who helped deliver him a borderline Hall of Fame career.
“He said I should be more loyal to him because my name Deebo, I had three, four Pro Bowls, Defensive Player of the Year..So when you say these things, it implies that he gave me it,” Harrison said on his Deebo and Joe Podcast. “First, he didn’t give me the name Deebo, Brett Keisel gave me the name Deebo…He didn’t make me the only undrafted player to ever win Defensive Player of the Year and get paid $50 million. Again, implying that it was given to me undeservingly. It wasn’t.”
Be that as it may, somebody had to give him the opportunity in the first place. Bill Cowher cut him multiple times, while Tomlin believed in him and gave him the opportunity to be great. Tomlin stepped in and immediately chose Harrison over Porter. Had they retained Porter, it would have been a much slower ascent to the Harrison that we all know today.
On Cam Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, Porter revealed that he spoke privately with Harrison after some of his comments last month. Those private conversations bled into the public space when Porter decided to speak out last week.
“If it was recorded, you would’ve thought it was on and popping. I hung up,” Harrison said. “We brothers, brothers fight.”
The irony of it all is the fact that Porter’s initial beef was team drama being aired out in public rather than behind closed doors. He apparently chose to fight fire with fire.
The week of Steelers drama continues with two of the best pass rushers in franchise history going back and forth with each other.
“Something else that he said, Ben and I broke the brotherhood,” Harrison said. “First, Mike ain’t my brother…We broke the brotherhood? You broke the brotherhood, bruh, more than we did.”
As he has done before, Harrison outlined what he sees as Tomlin’s coaching flaws, including a lack of a coaching tree, a decade without a playoff win, and poor first- and second-round drafting.
Harrison also defended Roethlisberger, highlighting his growth as a person since the early years when Porter was his teammate.
“Seven could be an asshole. That’s facts…He became the youngest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl. Hell yeah that’s gonna stroke my ego,” Harrison said. “But over time he has matured and grown up.”
All things considered, Harrison took the high road in his response to Porter compared to some of his more explosive podcast rants over the last year. He said they are brothers, made sure to keep the focus on his rift with Tomlin, and defended Roethlisberger while acknowledging some of his past flaws.
Now all attention will shift to Ben Roethlisberger’s Footbahlin podcast on Tuesday evening. Whether he chooses to cool things down—or add another log to the fire—remains to be seen.
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