Pittsburgh Steelers alumni and fans alike have spent the last 24 hours weighing in on comments made by former linebacker Joey Porter.
Speaking on Cam Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, Porter went on an unfiltered rant on James Harrison for talking poorly about Mike Tomlin, which led to Porter talking about Ben Roethlisberger and the former Steelers quarterback not being a good person or teammate.
“The sh*t that [Roethlisberger did]… that we don’t talk about is crazy,” Porter said. “Like, out of
anybody that should talk, he should never grab a microphone and really talk Steelers business. Because if we’re talking Steeler business, his ass is foul of all foul. Like, the sh*t that he did is foul of all foul. He’s not a good teammate. [I] won a Super Bowl with him. But the person? He’s just not a good teammate. Like, he knows that. Anybody in the Steeler building knows that. But we protected him. Because I’ve only won one Super Bowl, and that was my quarterback. So do I love my quarterback? Yeah, but is he a good person? No.”
The Not Just Football Instagram account posted the clip, to which several Steelers weighed in, including quarterback Mason Rudolph.
“Go off,” Rudolph said with a bulleseye emoji.
Roethlisberger was rumored to be angry when the Steelers drafted Rudolph in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He even publicly questioned what Rudolph could do to help the Steelers immediately, as they had just won 13 games in 2017. However, Roethlisberger has said he never had anything against Rudolph personally.
“I was surprised when they took a quarterback because I thought that maybe in the third round, you know you can get some really good football players that can help this team now,” Roethlisberger said in 2018 after Rudolph was drafted. “Nothing against Mason. I think he’s a great football player. I don’t know him personally, but I’m sure he’s a great kid. I just don’t know how backing up or being a third… helps us win now.”
Rudolph’s public standing with the Steelers’ fan base has done a complete 180 over the last two years. He led the Steelers to the postseason in 2023 by leading Pittsburgh to three straight wins in relief of Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky. He then spent a season in Tennessee with the Titans before returning to the Steelers in 2025 to much fanfare.
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