Ravens Gave Steelers Legend Welcome to NFL Moment

Throughout his 13-year NFL career, former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter Sr. was one of the league's premier trash-talkers. However, he learned very quickly that trash talk wasn't going to fly against the Baltimore Ravens.

During a recent appearance on Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward's "Not Just Football" podcast, Porter recalled his welcome to the NFL moment going against legendary Ravens offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden as a rookie in 1999.

"My welcome to the NFL moment was me running my mouth against Jonathan Ogden," Porter said. "Just me being me. I'm a rookie. We're playing Baltimore in Baltimore, like Week 2 or Week 3. ... So I'm looking at him. I'm looking at how big his shoes is. And I'm feeling good about myself. I'm like, 'This dude got on some size 18 [cleats]. There's no way he's going to be able to kick back that fast and block me.' I mean, he's 6-8, 370 or something. He looked real, real big, like a real-life ogre. There's no way I can't run around him. I'm like, 'This dude is cooked.' So I'm talking. I didn't know I was going against Kung Fu Panda."

"He looks over his shoulder to see who's talking, and he just hits me with a (nod) and went back to the huddle. And I'm over there digging in. I got wider. I said, 'Yeah, I'm getting all the way out here. I'm going to bring his ass out here to the HOV lane. This is the fast track.'"

After that experience against a far larger adversary, Porter knew he had some work to do if he wanted to trash talk Ogden and the Ravens.

"I got out, I'm coming around, I'm thinking I'm low and dipped. Man, he pushed me down and splashed me," Porter said. "All my weight in my heart just left. I just watched it leave to the sideline, and I followed it to the sideline, because I had to come out of the game. He splashed me."

"With Ogden I said, 'OK, I ain't there yet to be talking [crap] to him.' I knew that right away."

Porter would go on to make four Pro Bowls and win Super Bowl XL with Pittsburgh in 2005. His son, third-year cornerback Joey Porter Jr., is now a Steeler himself.

However, Ogden would go on to have an even better career. The Ravens' first ever draft pick, Ogden made 11 Pro Bowls in 12 NFL seasons and won Super Bowl XXXV with Baltimore in 2000. He's now rightfully considered one of the best offensive tackles of the 21st Century.