Browns: 5 most hated Pittsburgh Steelers since 1999
By Chad Porto
3. Joey Porter
Remember what was said about James Harrison just being a bad dude? Well, Harrison gets No. 5 because he was the replacement for No. 3; Joey Porter. For Harrison to run (through people with illegal hits), Porter first had to walk (and do illegal hits). The list of things Porter has done is long and morally tenuous.
Porter in most of his years in the NFL ended up on the “Dirtiest Players” list, and was known for his awful antics, incited a fight with Browns running back William Green after Porter (allegedly) spat in Green’s face. He was known for his helmet to helmet hits on defenseless players and his trash talk was so awful that he became known for that rather than his play.
The Steelers were quick to replace him when they found a cheaper option.
Even in retirement, he hasn’t changed and is still causing problems for people. In 2016, now as a Steeler coach, he walked onto the field after a hit laid out Antonio Brown and got into a physical confrontation with some of the Bengals players. Now you could argue that maybe he and Brown were close and since he coached Brown he was checking on him. Which would make sense if Porter was a receivers coach and not the outside linebackers coach at the time. Porter went looking for a fight and found one.
Porter is a bully on and off-field as well. Getting arrested and having to pay a fine in 2017 for being drunk in public and bullying a minimum wage bouncer at a bar. He was later fired by the Steelers for, reportedly, trying to divide the Steelers locker room.