As Steelers past and present re-enact “Mean Girls” via podcast — I stole that from X — it’s easy to overlook the hidden schmuck in Porter vs. Roethlisberger.
It’s the fearless leader, Cam Heyward.
Heyward sat there, a lump of silence, while Joey Porter excoriated Ben Roethlisberger, called him a “bad person” and alluded to sinister behavior covered up by the Steelers.
It’s Heyward’s podcast, but he wasn’t doing much hosting.
Worse yet, he could have edited out Porter’s remarks but chose not to.
It’s thus logical to conclude that Heyward feels the same way about Roethlisberger that Porter does but didn’t have the guts to say it himself.
Heyward’s podcast hardly entails groundbreaking journalism, or any journalism at all. Heyward had a chance to prevent the Steelers logo from again being embroiled in chaos and disrepute but didn’t.
What did Heyward gain by it? Buzz for his podcast? Whoop-de-do.
Heyward has been poisoned by that podcast. He used to be perceived as a strong, silent leader. Now he remained silent at the wrong time. That podcast has compromised his reputation.
Or maybe it’s revealed the real Heyward: A whiner and non-leader.
Here’s an easy prediction for the next episode: Heyward retreats in spineless, mealymouthed fashion. What you’d expect from somebody who’s won one playoff game in 15 seasons.
Hopefully Roethlisberger is smart enough not to retaliate on his podcast. Just laugh it off and let the news cycle die out. (That might take a while.)
Porter also criticized James Harrison but didn’t get personal. (Because he’s scared to death of Harrison.) Harrison has a podcast, too. (Of course he does.) Harrison figures to go scorched earth on Porter, saving Roethlisberger the trouble. Yelling and glaring.
The cause of Porter’s rancor was criticism leveled by Roethlisberger and Harrison at Mike Tomlin, who recently quit as Steelers coach.
Porter didn’t play for Tomlin but coached on his staff. Porter and Tomlin are known to be close. Porter was propping up the Tomlin myth. (What a myth it is.)
But Roethlisberger and Harrison didn’t get personal when discussing Tomlin. Harrison was stiffest, saying Tomlin shouldn’t make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Roethlisberger said, before season’s end, that it might be time for Tomlin to move on.
Porter got personal with Roethlisberger. It’s bad for Roethlisberger.
It reopened old wounds and injected them into the current news cycle: Lake Tahoe. Milledgeville. Those incidents were mentioned in every story about what Porter said.
Porter knew that would happen. There was intent.
Roethlisberger is eligible for election in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s next vote. He’s looking to get in on the first ballot, which is seen as more prestigious. What Porter said might impact that.
Roethlisberger’s children are 13, 11 and 9. They don’t need to be exposed to this.
Porter accused Harrison and Roethlisberger of “breaking the brotherhood.” But what Porter did was egregiously worse.
Porter certainly shouldn’t be anybody’s moral compass. He’s behaved badly:
• He got jailed for writing a bad check.
• He got shot.
• He was charged with assault following a playoff win over Miami in 2017. Porter was a Steelers coach then. (Oh, the charges were dropped? Well, Roethlisberger was never charged with anything.)
• He caused unpleasant scenes at his son’s high school football games, sometimes with Tomlin present. (Both their sons played for North Catholic High School at one point.)
Porter and Roethlisberger both got inducted to the Steelers’ Hall of Honor this past season. Porter could not have been more buddy-buddy with Roethlisberger, cheesing it up for the photo ops. Total hypocrite.
Maurkice Pouncey and Antonio Brown (!) have come out in support of Roethlisberger.
Small-time peons like Mason Rudolph and Tyler Matakevich have come down on Porter’s side, via approval emojis or whatever.
Pittsburgh sports fans are too stupid to know who their heroes are, so those predisposed to hate Roethlisberger are unloading with both barrels on social media and talk shows.
If not for Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh would still be stuck in the ’70s and on four Super Bowls. (This town never missed a chance to hate Terry Bradshaw, either.)
Roethlisberger counts more than Porter and Heyward.
Roethlisberger counts more than Tomlin.
Roethlisberger counts more than any Rooney not named Dan or Art Jr.
Even though this skirmish doesn’t directly affect the current Steelers, it’s another example of the logo being dragged through excrement. Those are all too frequent.
Pretty soon the stink will be hard to get out.