Relatively lost in the mass hysteria surrounding Antonio Brown last week was the firing of Joey Porter as Steelers outside linebackers coach.
That news deserves so much more attention.
It’s not because it was surprising. Job performance dictated it. T.J. Watt grew into a star under Porter’s watch. Jarvis Jones and Bud Dupree failed miserably. One out of three might win a batting title in baseball, but it’s not good enough for a football coach, certainly not when it comes to No. 1 draft picks.
There also was Porter’s misbehavior off the field. He was arrested in January 2017 after an altercation with a doorman at a South Side bar a few hours after a Steelers home playoff win against Miami. He temporarily was suspended by Mike Tomlin but coached in the following playoff games at Kansas City and New England. Porter also reportedly was involved an incident at a high school football game in which his son, Joey Jr., a Penn State recruit, played. If true, it was conduct unbecoming of an NFL coach.
Tomlin and Porter weren’t just co-workers, they were close friends. I’m not sure if Porter was fired by Tomlin or Art Rooney II, but it doesn’t matter. The team got it right. Porter had to go.
But that doesn’t mean Pittsburgh didn’t lose one of its more fascinating and enigmatic characters.
It’s easy to forget Porter was one of the Steelers’ more productive players. The proof was his 60 sacks in his eight seasons with the team. Sports Illustrated put him on its pro football edition cover in 2006 and called him the NFL’s “most feared player.”
Porter also was the inspirational leader on some great Steelers teams for reasons that went beyond his “Who ride? We ride!” locker room chant that became a motivating force. He was at his best even before games when he would stare down the opponent at midfield during warm-ups, helmet off, wearing a black beanie and eye black, his massive forearms and flat stomach exposed for all to see. He rallied his teammates before a playoff game in Indianapolis in 2005 by calling Peyton Manning and the Colts soft, then backed it up with two late sacks in a 21-18 win. He rattled Seattle tight end Jerramy Stevens before Super Bowl XL to the point Stevens dropped three passes in the Steelers’ 21-10 win.
Occasionally, Porter stepped over the line. He used a disgraceful homophobic slur to describe Cleveland tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. He was ejected before a game at Cleveland after getting into a fight with running back William Green in warm-ups, opening the door for James Harrison to become a star. He went to the Baltimore bus after a game against the Ravens looking to fight Ray Lewis because he felt Lewis had mocked him.
But Porter also had a soft side. He organized two of the greatest tributes I’ve seen in sports. His teammates loved him for it. “J-Peezy,” they called him with great affection.
Late in the 2005 season, Porter and 26 defensive teammates honored Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau by paying $300 each for a retro No. 44 LeBeau jersey from his playing days with the Detroit Lions. They hung the jerseys in their lockers before they played the Lions later that day. LeBeau cried when he walked into the room and told his mother, who asked why he didn’t take a picture, “I don’t have to take a picture, Ma. It will be in my memory forever.”
Before Super Bowl XL that same season, Porter honored teammate Jerome Bettis in extraordinary fashion. With the game in Detroit — Bettis’ hometown — Porter cleared it with Bill Cowher to have Bettis run on the field alone, ahead of the other Steelers. If you look at the NFL Films pregame tape, you can see Porter holding back his teammates. “I wanted the cameras to shine on Jerome alone,” Porter said.
That’s also Joey Porter.
That shouldn’t be forgotten.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter@RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: January 8, 2019, 12:00 p.m.
