Former Pittsburgh Steelers star Joey Porter Sr. was an All-Pro four times during his illustrious NFL career, but like most players who make it to the National Football League, he also had his share of struggles early on.

One moment that sticks out to him occurred during his first meeting with one of the greatest offensive lineman of all time in Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden.

“My ‘Welcome to the NFL’ moment was me running my mouth against Jonathan Ogden,” Joey Porter told Cam Heyward recently on the Not Just Football podcast. “I’m a rookie. We’re playing Baltimore in Baltimore. It’s like Week 2 or Week 3. … I’m running my mouth to Ogden, mind you, I’m just coming in on a couple of third-down plays. I don’t really play like that. So I’m looking at him. I’m looking at how big his shoes is. And I’m feeling good about myself.

“I’m like, ‘This dude got on some size 18 [cleats]. There’s no way he’s going to be able to kick back that fast and block me.’ I mean he’s 6-8, 370 or something. He looked real big, like a real life ogre. There’s no way I can’t run around him.”

Ahead of his first play against Ogden, the massive Baltimore Ravens tackle, Porter started talking trash to the 6-foot-9, 345 pounder.

“I’m like, ‘This dude is cooked.’ So I’m talking. I didn’t know I was going against Kung Fu Panda. Like, nobody told me his [expletive] feet were going to be that fast. He looked big but that was Kung Fu Panda,” Joey Porter said. “He was fast for a big guy. So I come around the corner, I’m talking, running my mouth.

“He looks over his shoulder to see who’s talking, and he just hits me with a (nod) and went back to the huddle. And I’m over there digging in. I got wider. I said, ‘Yea, I’m getting all the way out here. I’m going to bring his [expletive] out here to the HOV lane. This is the fast track.’”

Porter quickly found out that there was a reason Ogden was already considered one of the best left tackles in the sport.

He was confident in his abilities, but that confidence went away quickly once the play began.

“I got out, I’m coming around, I’m thinking I’m low and dipped. Man, he pushed me down and splashed me,” Porter said. “All my weight in my heart just left. I just watched it leave to the sideline, and I followed it to the sideline.

“Because I had to come out of the game. He splashed me. … That’s the worst when you’re only getting a few snaps and you’ve gotta pull yourself out. That wasn’t good.”

The moment let Porter know that while he was talented, he still had plenty of work to do to be able to make plays against the best.

Of course, his career ended up going just fine as he went on to win a Super Bowl and earned four All-Pro honors himself.

“With Ogden I said, ‘OK, I ain’t there yet to be talking [expletive] to him.’ I knew that right away,” Porter said.

“I know when I go to Baltimore I’ve gotta get my [expletive] together, because he’s obviously a Hall of Famer, and I was talking to a Hall of Famer my rookie year. And he really let me know who he is, like, I’m not one of them. I’m HIM.”