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The Pittsburgh Steelers Mel Blount grabs an interception in overtime in front of the Cleveland Browns Ozzie Newsome Nov. 26, 1979 in Pittsburgh. Blount intercepted the Brian Sipe pass on the Steelers four yard line.
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Gerry Dulac: Joey Porter Jr. has a Steelers legend to thank for all those penalties

Associated Press

Gerry Dulac: Joey Porter Jr. has a Steelers legend to thank for all those penalties

Hall of Famer Mel Blount's physicality led to rule changes for defensive backs in 1977

When all is said and done, after all the yellow flags, Joey Porter Jr. can blame what happened to him in Cincinnati on one person.

Mel Blount.

“You’d be surprised how many guys when I go around the league say, ‘You know you’re the reason we can’t do this,’ ” the former Steelers Hall of Fame cornerback said.

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Blount, a member of the NFL’s 100th anniversary team who started on all four of the Super Bowl teams of the 1970s, was responsible for a rule change in 1977 that prohibited defensive backs from bumping a wide receiver outside of 5 yards from the line of scrimmage.

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It was often referred to as “The Mel Blount Rule” because of the way the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Blount would often throw wide receivers to the ground immediately off the line of scrimmage or simply overpower them all the way down the field. The result of the rule change made it more difficult for defensive backs to play man coverage against wide receivers.

Porter discovered that in a cruel way against the Bengals, being called for six penalties, including two on the same play, trying to guard receiver Tee Higgins, who is 6-foot-4, 220 pounds and was referred to as a “goon” by coach Mike Tomlin. Four of the penalties were accepted, all for pass interference.

“As someone who’s been accused of the rules being the way they are because of my play, it’s a position you know what it is when you sign up for it,” Blount was saying on the phone the other day. “You just do your best with the ability you have when pass interference is called and move on.”

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Blount did not get to see the Bengals game on Sunday because he was out of town, but he heard and read about what happened.

Porter is the second-most penalized defensive back in the league behind Detroit Lions rookie Terrion Arnold. He has been penalized nine times for 111 yards — curiously all on the road. He has not been penalized at Acrisure Stadium.

“It’s tough to play in the secondary now with the way league is set up and the way the rules are,” Blount said. “And Joey being a physical corner, he’s probably going to get more calls than most who are not as physical and not in the face of receivers battling for the ball.

“It’s unfortunate that the game, you can’t hardly do anything now with these receivers. It’s almost like playing pitch-and-catch and make the tackle.”

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Blount, though, has no doubts the second-year cornerback from Penn State will bounce back and be unaffected by what happened against the Bengals.

“Not just at that position but just being in the NFL, you have to have a tough mindset,” Blount said. “You have to forget the last play and move on to the next one.

“It’s tough because you’re human. You have fans talking about you, media talking about you — that’s where the mental toughness comes in with the great players. And Joey, in my opinion, is a big-time player.”

Pruitt’s prowess

You would never know it based on how he is used, but No. 3 tight end MyCole Pruitt, who is typically in the game as a blocker, was once a record-breaking receiver.

When he was at Southern Illinois, he set the Missouri Valley Conference record for career receptions (211), receiving yards (2,601) and receiving touchdowns (25) for tight ends.

His receiving skills were never in doubt when he was drafted in the fifth round by the Minnesota Vikings in 2015.

“My hands are certified,” Pruitt said. “I ain’t never worried about that.”

Pruitt caught 10 passes for 89 yards as a rookie, then just two catches for three different teams in 2016 and 2017. It wasn’t until he joined the Tennessee Titans that he was used a little more in the pass game. That’s when the Titans tight end coach was Arthur Smith.

In four years with the Titans, two of which when Smith was the offensive coordinator, Pruitt caught 34 passes for 386 yards and seven touchdowns.

When Smith brought him to Atlanta in 2022, Pruitt had his best professional season, catching 16 passes for 150 yards and four touchdowns.

“If anybody ever goes back and looks at my resume, I caught a lot of balls in college,” Pruitt said. “That’s something I pride myself on.”

After spending his first 11 games with the Steelers being utilized primarily as a blocker in run formations, Pruitt became a pass catcher against the Bengals. He was targeted three times and caught two passes for 21 yards, matching his totals from the previous 11 games.

“We have plays in every week where the ball is designed to come to me on this play or that play,” Pruitt said. “It’s just the flow of the game, how it goes. It may or may not happen that way when you actually get out there on the grass. The other day, it actually did.

“You get a bunch of guys involved in the game. The defense can’t zero in on one guy. That opens up everybody else. It’s a beautiful thing to be involved in the game plan.”

Pruitt was one of 10 different receivers utilized by quarterback Russell Wilson. And he wasn’t the only “run-formation” player used in the pass game.

Special teams standout and blocking receiver Ben Skowronek caught an 18-yarder on 2nd-and-10 that led to the touchdown that gave the Steelers a 34-24 lead. And running back Cordarrelle Patterson lined up as a wide receiver and caught three passes for 37 yards.

It was all part of Smith changing the Steelers’ tendencies and making sure their personnel groupings don’t become too predictable.

“A thing that we try to work really hard on is if you're going to operate that way, you have to have enough counterpunches off it,” Smith said. “It's unconventional warfare. Make something look like you're doing this, but you're really doing something else.”

First Published: December 6, 2024, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: December 6, 2024, 9:39 p.m.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers Mel Blount grabs an interception in overtime in front of the Cleveland Browns Ozzie Newsome Nov. 26, 1979 in Pittsburgh. Blount intercepted the Brian Sipe pass on the Steelers four yard line.  (Associated Press)
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