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E-mail StorySteelers release Joey Porter
| Thursday, Mar 1 2007 2:28 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Mar 1 2007 4:06 PM
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joey Porter, the vocal pass-rushing linebacker, was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday.
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Joey Porter, former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, visited Cesar Chavez school in Bakersfield Friday, Feb. 23, for a Black History Month event.
The 29-year-old Porter, who was in the final year of his contract, had been the starting right outside linebacker since 2000, the year after he was drafted by the Steelers. Porter, a Foothill High product, turns 30 years old on March 22.
Porter was to receive a $1 million bonus on March 6, and was due to earn $4 million in 2007.
“It’s a business decision that was made,” Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett said.
Porter played 122 games and made 106 starts. His 60 quarterback sacks rank fourth in team history.
The Steelers also released injured running back Verron Haynes and offensive tackle Ulish Booker, who spent the 2006 season on the reserve/injured list.
Porter has played eight years in the NFL, all with the Steelers, all under retired coach Bill Cower. He has 60 career sacks and 10 career interceptions. A Bakersfield native, Porter played his high school football at Foothill High where he starred on defense and offense as a running back.
He maintains a home in Bakersfield and spends a great deal of time in Bakersfield during the off-season, often making appearances at high school sporting events and at charity events. He continues to give back to the community and to Foothill High. His Joey Porter Boot Camp football camp for kids each summer has become a hugely popular event.
Porter played his collegiate football at Colorado State and was the Steelers third-round draft pick in 1999.
Porter received more attention this past season for things he said than for what he did on the football field during a down year for the Steelers. About a week after Sports Illustrated hit the stands with Porter on the cover and a huge feature story inside, in which Porter was described as “the most feared man in the NFL,” and in which he made derogatory remarks about Bakersfield Police, he had two sacks and ran back an interception for a touchdown in the season opener against Miami.
But he went on to record seven sacks in 2006, 3.5 fewer sacks than he had during the Steelers Super Bowl year in 2005.
Leading up to a visit by the Steelers to President Bush at the White House in June, Porter said he was looking forward to confronting the President on a few issues.
"Yeah, I got something to say to Bush,” he said. “I'm going to have a swagger when I walk in there, too. I'm looking forward to it. I have something to tell him, too.”
Porter later said he was joking at the time and that he very much looked forward to meeting the President.
Then in December after a game against Cleveland during which Cleveland tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. received a penalty for a late hit on Steeler’s linebacker James Farrior, Porter made a derogatory remark toward Winslow about his sexual orientation.
“It was a late hit. That’s what fagots do,” Porter said. He was fined $10,000 by the NFL for his remark, for which he later apologized.