The more things change, the more they stay the same. That is certainly true of the Pittsburgh Steelers-Baltimore Ravens rivalry, one that remains one of the NFL’s fiercest.

Former Steelers offensive tackle Marvel Smith joined the Locker Room Show recently and was asked how much hate existed in the rivalry when he played.

“There’s a lot of respect because we were similar teams. You run the football and play defense. And we were good teams. The rest of the teams in our division sucked. We hated the Ravens,” Smith said. “Funny story. When Terrell Suggs first came into the league, he went to Arizona State too, but he came after I left. I only saw him as a Raven, I wasn’t at ASU with him. I went against this dude two times per year. He was one of the best defensive ends in the league.

“We were at the Pro Bowl together and being that we were both ASU alumni, he was like ‘Let’s get a picture.’ I’m like, ‘There is no way I’m about to take a picture with no Raven. It is not going down.’”

The Steelers selected Smith 38th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, and he immediately became a starter. He made his first and only Pro Bowl following the 2004 season where Suggs asked for the picture that apparently did not happen. Suggs was in his second season with Baltimore after being the 10th overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. That season marked the first of seven Pro Bowls for Suggs, who was also named the 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Both Smith and Suggs are members of the Sun Devils Hall of Fame. However, given that their times at Arizona State didn’t overlap, it makes sense that the bitter rivalry between Pittsburgh and Baltimore would override their college connection. During Smith’s Pittsburgh tenure, the Steelers or Ravens won the AFC North in seven of nine seasons.

Smith got the better of Terrell Suggs during his playing days as the Steelers won five AFC North championships, and he was the starting left tackle during Pittsburgh’s run to the Super Bowl XL title. He was also with the Steelers in 2008 when they captured Super Bowl XLIII, though he was injured and limited to just five games in his final NFL season.

Smith’s story perfectly captures what the Steelers-Ravens rivalry means: mutual respect hidden below layers of animosity. Even shared college roots and Pro Bowl honors weren’t enough to soften the AFC North rivalry that two decades later is proof that some things never change.

Watch the full interview with Marvel Smith below.