Joey Porter didn't show up last night to enjoy his selection to the Steelers 75 Anniversary Team. And now he is no longer a part of that team, much to the delight of the many fans who booed Porter when his name was introduced last night. As of this morning, he has been replaced by James Harrison who turned in a performance against the Ravens that was better than anything Porter ever authored.
Or was it? The last time we heard people saying things like this...
He was a beast. That’s as good as I’ve ever seen anyone play here for as long as I’ve been here.
It was something down the road where I can tell my son I played with this guy and he did all that in one game.
He had all of them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, everything. That was one of the most amazing performances I’ve seen out of a linebacker, probably ever.
...about a Steeler defensive player was on September 15, 2002 and they were talking about none other than Joey Porter. That game in 2002 was different than last night in one major way: the Steelers lost, got bombed really by the Raiders 30-17 in a game where Rich Gannon threw for 403 yards. But the score could have been a whole lot worse if it weren't for #55 Joey Porter.
It was a Sunday night game, the second of the year, the second prime time game of the year, both at home and their second loss. The Patriots had torched them the week before to begin the season.
But on this night, Joey Porter:
-intercepted a Gannon pass at the 3 yard line to prevent the Raiders from going up 17-7 and returned it 30 yards.
-sacked Gannon 3 times and hurried him once
-had 10 solo tackles
-intercepted Gannon a second time at the 3 and this time returned it 84 yards before lateraling to Chad Scott, who took it into the end zone. The lateral was overruled as a forward lateral and the ball was placed at the Raider 15 and the Steelers scored a TD from there making the score 20-17 instead of 27-10. And it was a game...until the Raiders returned the kickoff for another TD. Too bad Porter wasn't on special teams.
-Porter was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
Harrison's numbers from his own prime time performance: nine tackles, three and a half sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception.
Considering it led to a dominating win, Harrison's game was probably greater than Porter's and is why he can now hob nob with the Steeler All Timers.
