Getting released ahead of the 2007 season had to be painful for former Steelers outside linebacker Joey Porter Sr., especially after a long, successful career in Pittsburgh.
But when it came to his next NFL stop, his loyalty to the Black and Gold ultimately won out.
Porter, who appeared on the Not Just Football with Cam Heyward podcast from Radio Row at Super Bowl LX, stated that though the AFC North-rival Cincinnati Bengals pushed hard to sign him, he simply couldn’t make the move.
“Marvin Lewis called me as soon as when I was leaving Pittsburgh,” Porter said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “And I told him I couldn’t come there for that reason. Like, I’m not playing in no AFC North [for anyone else].”
The Steelers released Porter on March 1, 2007, shortly after Mike Tomlin took over as head coach following Bill Cowher’s resignation. That move was made, in part, due to Porter’s injury issues during the 2006 season and the fact that he was about to be on the wrong side of 30 years old.
Add that the Steelers had James Harrison waiting in the wings and were about to draft LaMarr Woodley, and it made sense they released Porter.
What would have been painful was if Porter went to the Bengals and joined the wrong side of the rivalry. The Bengals’ interest was real, as Lewis apparently called Porter and tried to lure him to the Queen City.
But while he might have been upset that the Steelers moved on after eight years, Porter couldn’t bring himself to put on another AFC North team’s uniform, especially the Bengals.
Porter instead headed south to Miami and spent three seasons with the Dolphins. Fortunately for Porter, he bounced back in a big way. He recorded 17.5 sacks in his second year with the Dolphins, earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl accolades, before later ending his career in Arizona where he thought another former Steeler was going to join him.
It ultimately worked out for Porter — and for the Steelers — but what a disaster that would have been had Porter gone from the heart and soul of the Steelers for all those years to a guy who jumped to another team within the division. It was painful when Harrison did it late in his career with the Bengals, but thankfully with Porter, his loyalty won out in the end.