Joey Porter Blasts Ben Roethlisberger on Cam Heyward’s Podcast: Bad Teammate

Ben Roethlisberger "broke the brotherhood" with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and it's a problem, Joey Porter claims.

During an appearance on the "Not Just Football with Cam Heyward" podcast, Porter unloaded on his former teammate over comments Roethlisberger made in December when Big Ben suggested it might be "clean house time" in Pittsburgh, and the prime target was head coach Mike Tomlin. 

Given the chance to get some thoughts off his chest, Porter didn't mince words. "The s--t that [Roethlisberger] do that did that we don't talk about, it's crazy," Porter told Heyward while NFL Insider® Dianna Russini chirped in, "I know." 

Dianna, how about letting these guys talk without interrupting? Please. Joey's rolling. 

"Like like out of anybody should talk, he should never grab a microphone and really talk Steeler business. Yeah. Because if we talking Steeler business, his ass is foul of all foul. Like the s--t that he's did is foul of all foul. He's not a good teammate. Won a Super Bowl, 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," Porter continued. 

Russini, who finally let Porter talk, came back with the right question: Why wasn't Big Ben a good teammate? 

Ben Roethlisberger, Jerome Bettis and Joey Porter at a Pistons game in 2006. (Photo by D. Lippitt/Einstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Porter proceeded to tell a story about how Roethlisberger refused to sign autographs for teammates who had family in town. A teammate might've asked Ben to sign a football. Porter, a captain at the time, says teammates came to him to say Roethlisberger was refusing. 

"When he first did it to Chris Hoke, I was like, 'Damn, that's messed up, man.' I grabbed it from Hoke, took it over there, and told him to sign it. But then when he did Aaron Smith, now I got to have a meeting," Porter remembered. 

"Like you're a rookie, you're a young guy. Yeah. You can't tell my vets you too cool to sign for my vets. Who the hell is too cool to sign for your teammate? Like I'm not a fan."

Joey Porter tackles Ben Roethlisberger during a 2007 game. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

By 2006, Porter's playing career with the Steelers was ending. By 2014, Porter was back on the Steelers as a coach and eventually formed a bond with Tomlin. Roethlisberger was leading the league in passing yards. 

"By the time I got there as a coach, he was off limits to even talk about. At that point in time, he can do it however he want to. Wasn't nobody going to say nothing," Porter noted. "That animal was already built."

In 2012, Roethlisberger settled a rape lawsuit stemming from a Lake Tahoe hotel incident. Before that settlement, Roethlisberger was accused of sexual misconduct at a nightclub in a Georgia college town. 

As for Porter, he would go on to be arrested in 2017 for allegedly assaulting a bar doorman. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in that case. Porter was arrested again in 2020 after an altercation with a Pennsylvania police officer.