PITTSBURGH, PA – DECEMBER 10: Pittsburgh Steelers Linebacker James Harrison (92) looks on during the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 10, 2017 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa. (Photo by Mark Alberti/ Icon Sportswire)
Former Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison thinks the New England Patriots stole at least one Super Bowl from the Steelers due to “Spygate.”
“They did a little [finagling] over there,” Harrison said on his Deebo & Joe podcast. “That one year [2004], the year that we was [15-1], we popped them and Philly back-to-back, and then they came to the AFC Championship Game. Bruh, when I say they caught us, they only missed one blitz. What in the world, Joe? How many times in your career have you ever seen where an offense get ya’ll on every blitz you do but one?
“…That’s like playing Tecmo Bowl, and I get your play. It’s over with. …I was like, ‘Yeah, we about to get to the Super Bowl.’ And we at home. We were at the crib. That was upsetting and disappointing. That should have been a back-to-back because the next year we won.”
The Steelers lost to the New England Patriots, 24-17, in the AFC Championship Game in the 2001-2002 season. The first of the Steelers’ two losses to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game during Spygate, the other coming in 2004.
Harrison’s co-host, Joe Haden, a former Steelers cornerback, told Harrison the Patriots “stole a two-piece” from Pittsburgh.
Harrison wasn’t on the team in 2001, but he believes they got robbed in 2004 at least.
“They stole a one-piece at least,” Harrison said.
DETROIT, MI – OCTOBER 29: Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison (92) runs off of the field at the conclusion of the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Detroit Lions on October 29, 2017 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire)
Earlier this year, former Penn State offensive lineman Landon Tengwall shared a story on X regarding Spygate from his father-in-law, Kenny Jackson, who was the Steelers wide receivers coach from 2001-2003.
“My father-in-law always talks about Spygate. He was the Wide Receivers coach for the Steelers in 2002, the year they lost to the Patriots in the AFC Championship game,” Tengwall wrote. “He told me he took the game film to Hawaii with him (the staff that lost the conference championship coached their conference in the Pro Bowl) and locked himself in his room to review it obsessively. He couldn’t figure out why it seemed like the Patriots knew exactly what the Steelers were doing on offense, and said it drove him nuts. Needless to say, he felt vindicated when the Spygate news broke. To quote, ‘Those cheating sons of bitches.’”
The Spygate scandal was at the center of former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick not being a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Belichick fell short of the 40 out of 50 votes needed for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Many were shocked and outraged over Belichick being snubbed. Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson wrote on X, “I would like to know the names of the assholes who did not vote for him..they are too cowardly to identify themselves…”
Spygate and Deflategate are speculated as the main factors to keeping Belichick out of the Hall in his first year of eligibility.
Former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher came up short against Belichick’s Patriots in the 2001 and 2004 AFC Championship Game. Despite Spygate, Cowher has always defended Belichick.
While many former Steelers players disagree, Cowher thinks the Patriots just out-played the Steelers in the AFC Championship Games. Former Steelers outside linebacker Joey Porter Sr. famously said after the game, “It’s like they knew exactly what we were doing.”
“It’s only cheating if you get caught,” Cowher told The Athletic’s Ed Bouchette in 2021. “Like any player, if you’re going to hold him, don’t get caught. If you get caught you’re wrong, if you don’t you’re right. I always thought we never lost the games to New England because of Spygate. If he got the calls because we didn’t do a very good job of making sure we signaled those in, that’s on us, it’s not on him. Because we’re always looking for competitive edges. I think as any coach whether it’s someone’s stance, someone’s split, someone’s formation. You’re looking at someone’s eyes, how are they coming out of a huddle? You’re always looking for those little things that give you a competitive edge and that to me is what that was.”
That mutual respect goes both ways. Belichick praised Cowher when he got inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021 as a member of the Class of 2020.
“Bill had a tremendous NFL career that encompassed a lot – player, assistant coach, coordinator and head coach. He was a great defensive coach. Schematically his teams were one of the very best over the course of two decades,” Belichick said. “Our teams had some fiercely competitive battles that made me a better coach. I admire and learned from his complete mastery of coaching essentials – motivation, strategy, fundamentals and physical play. Bill and I have been close friends for 35 years and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Mentioned In This Article: Bill Belichick Bill Cowher James Harrison Joe Haden New England Patriots Pittsburgh Steelers Spygate Steelers Steelers News