Joey Porter Sr. won a Super Bowl with Ben Roethlisberger, but the Pittsburgh Steelers legends do not appear to have a good relationship beyond that.
Porter shared his opinion of Roethlisberger when discussing Mike Tomlin’s departure from the Steelers on current Pittsburgh defensive lineman Cameron Heyward’s ‘Not Just Football’ podcast.
Porter expressed he wasn’t a fan of how critical both James Harrison and Roethlisberger were of Tomlin as the veteran coach stepped down from his post after 19 seasons. He said both players ‘broke the brotherhood’ but was particularly critical of Roethlisberger during the appearance.
‘The (expletive) that seven did that we don’t talk about is crazy,’ Porter said, referring to Roethlisberger by his jersey number. ‘Like out of anybody [who] should talk, he should never grab a microphone and really talk Steeler business. Because if we’re talking Steeler business, his ass is foul of all foul. Like the (expletive) that he did is foul of all foul.’
Porter went on to describe some of the issues he had with Roethlisberger. He recounted how the quarterback – even in his early years in the league – refused to sign memorabilia for family members of his teammates, which was a common request at the time.
Porter also said Roethlisberger ‘doesn’t have captain qualities’ while implying the quarterback was eventually gifted the role so he wouldn’t ‘throw a hissy fit.’ Porter also said Roethlisberger ‘was off-limits to even talk about’ during his five-year coaching stint with the Steelers.
That led the four-time Pro Bowler to his ultimate conclusion about Roethlisberger.
‘He’s not a good teammate,’ Porter said. ‘Won a Super Bowl with him, but the person, he’s just not a good teammate. Like, he knows that. Anybody in the Steeler building knows that, but we protected him.
‘I’ve only won one Super Bowl, and that was my quarterback,’ he added. ‘So, do I love my quarterback? Yeah. But is he a good person? No.’
Roethlisberger did not immediately respond to Porter’s comments, and it isn’t clear if he will.
Meanwhile, Heyward – who was teammates with Roethlisberger for 11 seasons in Pittsburgh – was conspicuously quiet during Porter’s rant.
Several other current and former Steelers players, including Mason Rudolph, responded positively to a clip of Porter’s interview that was posted on the podcast’s Instagram. Most did not specify whether they were praising Porter for his comments about Roethlisberger or simply for his defense of Tomlin.