Steelers' Joey Porter Sr. Shares Wild Time Ravens' Jonathan Ogden Got Payback For Trash Talking

The Pittsburgh Steelers defense has always been comprised of players with huge personalities, big egos, and the talent to back it up. Some of the most memorable defenders came during the early 2000s and one of those was Joey Porter Sr. Porter recently talked about his time with Pittsburgh, shared his "welcome to the NFL moment," and how his soul left his body.

Porter spent eight seasons with the Steelers after being drafted in the third round in 1999 out of Colorado State. He was well known for his incredible trash-talking abilities. He has even shared stories about how Head Coach Bill Cowher used Porter's aggression and smart mouth to rile up his teammates or intimidate the opposing team. 

Another former Steelers defender, Arthur Moats, recently interviewed Porter, prior to the Baltimore Ravens game in Week 5 at Acrisure Stadium. Porter actually returned to Pittsburgh to coach the linebackers after his playing days were over and Moats knows him best as a coach. Whenever Moats speaks with a former player, he asks them about their "welcome to the NFL moment." Porter's was especially fitting since the Steelers were gearing up for their bitter rival that same day. 

"I was a rookie coming into this game and I'm running my mouth to Jonathan Ogden. Ogden just signed this huge contract and I get to play third downs, so I'm looking at this dude, he's like 6'8" and got size 17s (shoes). I'm about to run around the corner on this dude. There's no way he's about to keep up with me. No way he can make them big a** 17s back pedal faster than me."

Porter said he saw Jonathan Ogden's huge feet, which were actually a size 16, and assumed he couldn't move quickly. But Ogden, at 6'8" and roughly 345 lbs, didn't become one of the richest offensive linemen in the game because he did a good impression of a tree. The Ravens paid their prized left tackle more than $71 million during his 12-season career, a huge sum, particularly at that time. 

Porter told Moats that he just kept talking trash to Ogden. Porter told him that the Ravens wasted a whole bunch of money on him and he was fixing to show the team their mistake. He said he was hollering at him from the huddle and Ogden looked around to see who was saying all of it. Porter said he was proud to point out that it was him doing the taunting. 

"I get wide, I'm gonna speed rush him, and boom! He rolled me, he threw me down and belly-flopped on me. He landed on me, he knocked my whole soul to the sideline. I lost my air and everything. He made me feel all of it. As he got up, I stayed down, I'm tapping my helmet, I can't get enough air and he's like, 'Yeah take your a** to the sideline.' I said d**n these big people can move."

Porter said that he knew the guys in the NFL would be more talented, but he was at the peak of his talent, the fastest he ever was, and the gigantic Ogden embarrassed him. He said he never had any issues taking his L's, just like he took his W's and he had nothing but respect for Ogden. They had a good rivalry over the years and Porter got his opportunities for revenge. 

Steelers' Joey Porter Sr. Helped Make The Ravens Rivalry Exciting

During his career with the Steelers, Porter helped add the gasoline to the fire of that rivalry. But the great thing about the Steelers-Ravens matchup is the respect that the players have for one another. Porter said that the Ravens are so tough that he would hate the color purple. 

"We not going to act like he wasn't a first ballot Hall of Famer and I done torch his a** a few times too. I have made every last one of his quarterbacks touch the dirt. So he got me when I was a rookie, I got his a** back later on."

During his time in Pittsburgh, Porter helped the Steelers win Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks and was selected to four Pro Bowls. While Porter left the Steelers to spend a few seasons with the Miami Dolphins and then the Arizona Cardinals, he returned as a coach in 2014. Now Porter is busy helping his son, Joey Porter Jr. acclimate to the NFL, as he is a cornerback for the Steelers.   

Are you at all surprised that Porter was trash talking Ogden his rookie year? What is your favorite Steelers-Ravens memory?