Steelers' Joey Porter Sr. Blames James Harrison's Defiance Over TJ Watt On Veteran Mindset "Didn't Want To Come Off The Mantle"

The Pittsburgh Steelers were a force to be reckoned with in 2017. On the season, the team went 13-3, but unfortunately lost a frustrating Divisional Playoff game to the Jacksonville Jaguars. They had the third-ranked offense in the league, the seventh overall defense, and fifth in passing defense. A whopping 10 Steelers players went to the Pro Bowl that year and five were named All-Pros. Now one former player turned coach, Joey Porter Sr., talks about that season and the coming-of-age battle being waged on the defense between then-rookie T.J. Watt and the veterans James Harrison and Bud Dupree. 

When Watt entered the league in 2017, there were some who believed he would never live up to the bar set by his older brother J.J. Watt. The two brothers play different positions in the NFL. J.J. is now retired, but it seems obvious that T.J. doesn't come second to anyone. Porter, his linebackers coach in his rookie year, said he knew it then and it sure did make the veteran players angry. 

Porter was recently interviewed by another former Steelers linebacker, Arthur Moats, right before the recent Baltimore Ravens game at Acrisure Stadium. Moats said that it is clear that Watt is well on his way to being the greatest pass rusher to ever put on a black and gold jersey and asked Porter what it was like to be there in the beginning. 

Porter said that he had been coaching Harrison for a while. He said he was like a little brother to him since their playing time had overlapped and he felt he helped mentor Harrison when he came into the league. In addition to Harrison, they also had Dupree, Moats, Anthony Chickillo, and Jarvis Jones - it was a linebacker room full of talent and then Watt came in as a rookie. He said some of the guys did not take the news of how good Watt was performing very well.   

"I'm a truth coach. If you want to know where you stand, we gonna turn on this film and everybody gonna know where they stand. It wasn't hard for me to say who was the best in the room. Deebo [James Harrison] at that time didn't want to come off the mantle, cuz he's an old veteran who don't want to know that somebody's better than him."

Moats said that's how to do it because the film doesn't lie. Porter added that he was sympathetic to Harrison's feelings, he had been there himself, but you still have to be honest and do what is best for the team. Porter said it wasn't even close, he didn't really have competition on the team.

"I was like, 'Yeah, T.J.'s our best outside linebacker in this room.' He was competing against himself."

Dupree was in his third season in the NFL after being drafted by Pittsburgh in 2015 when Watt joined the team. Porter said that Dupree was an outstanding linebacker with a "crazy dog mentality," but he wasn't as good as Watt. He said like Harrison, Dupree wasn't very happy to hear this. 

"Bud was a freak athlete. Bud can do a lot. But he would get mad at me when I tell him T.J.'s better. But T.J. was better."

As a positional coach, Porter saw Watt at his pro day at the University of Wisconsin. It was also up to Porter to help get rookies coached up and ready to play. He said he knew right away that Watt was something special. 

"I seen it earlier. Like we will be doing something simple, like these catching drills and this dude is grabbing the ball like Beckham with one hand. So we talked about who has the best hands, they asked me. I'm like 'T.J.' 'Man, why you always picking T.J.?' I'm like, 'He got better hands than y'all. Now he's showing the whole world grabbing interceptions three f***ing feet away.'"

This elicited a laugh from Moats, but Porter wasn't done. He swears he was telling everyone seven years ago, saying you could even see it in passing warm-ups. Porter said he would throw Watt's ball 13 feet into the air and he was able to snatch it with one hand. 

Now, Porter said, he is proud of the way that Watt is "showing out" on game day. He said that he can even tell what Watt they are getting that day based upon how fired up he is. If "that Watt" shows up, then he knows he will have a big game. 

Steelers Are So Much Better When Watt Is On The Field

The Steelers franchise certainly knows how much better they are with Watt on the field than without. During the 2022 season, Watt suffered a pectoral injury in the first game of the season and the Steelers struggled mightily without him. While it is fair to say there were other issues, the defense struggled to get going without the havoc that Watt created. 

In fact, when Watt plays, the Steelers are 62-28 and when he doesn't, they are 1-10. While no team is defined by one man alone, it is hard to ignore the powerhouse that is Watt. He doesn't just cause chaos on his own, he forces the opponents to play for him so much that it allows his uber-talented partner, Alex Highsmith, to break free. The two are about as good as it's ever gotten at the outside linebacker positions.   

Did you realize how good Watt was in his rookie year? Click to comment below. 

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