July 27, 2025 • 49 mins
Rob King and Max Starks discuss the 2025 Hall of Honor class and the latest from Steelers' camp.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
My HEARTRAU is accessed.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
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Camp is presented by Vedex where Now meets Next and
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Speaker 3 (00:42):
Hello and welcome inside the Locker Room with King and
Starch presented by your neighborhood Ford Store on the Steelers
Audio Network. I'm Rob King, joined by Max Starks as
always Wes, you are also a board. We have Justin
Miller at the controls in our studios back at DVE
and everybody's here at the the cast is assembled.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Max. How you doing today? You know what Rob? I
am doing quite all right? You know yesterday was It
was a good day yesterday as far as as far
as practice, but most poorly I got to see one
of my one of my good friends, Wayne Pintar, his
son Austin got married yesterday to a beautiful young lady
(01:23):
Rachel and Uh. So I got to go see them
after practice. So that was fun to take a trip
into the city and celebrate the newest of the Pinar family.
So I had a great day yesterday.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
That is a great day, man, That is a great day.
So obviously I did the first hour with you yesterday,
obviously for the people listening that were listening yesterday. Then
Wes Uler took over and I went over to the
Steelers Hall of Honor induction announcement show, and I wanted
to get your thoughts before we get back into practice
(01:57):
in the trop because this is a big deal. First
of all, well this was conceived by Art Running back
in twenty seventeen. Your general thoughts, Max on the Hall
of Honor and and what it means for the Steelers
and an organization. Uh, and the fact there just so
many great players that the Steelers can induct into that
Hall of Honor.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I love the class. You know. I got to play
with all three of those guys. I was blessed to
call them teammates, to call them brothers, but most importantly
call them friends. You know, I think when you look
at just each of the each of the men, and
Joey Porter was up here at practice yesterday. Of course,
(02:41):
you guys got got to have it, and so get
the ceps out on on the on the field and
also address the crowd briefly, I was I was hoping
for for who, you know, I was hoping for one
of those didn't didn't get it, didn't get it was
more emotional and professional, uh, which I can appreciate. But
(03:01):
just starting with him, I mean, he was he was
the guy that Ben and I both saw when we
came into this league. He was he was the vocal
and physical leader on the defensive side of the ball
for the Steelers back in two thousand and four when
we were rookies and going down right here on the
field and having to go one on one pass rush.
(03:24):
You know, you know, your first day you're like, oh
my gosh, Joey Porter, and then getting to know him,
you know, just over time, he's well deserving of this,
of this honor. You know, we could always argue, hey,
when should they have been in. He's in when he
was supposed to be in. And you know, I think
(03:45):
that's the biggest thing is that he was a guy
you knew he was going in. It was just when
was he going to go in. So I mean just
you know, you think about the sixty sacks, the emotional
leader that he was changing rules in the league good,
better and different how you want to describe those type
of rules. There's a reason why teams can't go past
the forty five. It's because of Joey Porter and uh
(04:09):
and just a tremendous, tremendous athlete. And now you know,
you see so good that the Steelers are like, well,
we need we need we need your your your your
carbon copy, we need we need the DNA, the bloodline.
And Joey Porter Junior being here as well to see
his dad going into the Hall of Honor, you know,
right right before practice. I have to imagine is a
(04:30):
pretty cool thing. And then of course Marquise Pouncey, Marquise
is that man that that was That was a little
bro as as Wes could tell you, My my drip
for the day is that? Is that? How you use it?
Is that? Right? Westcott? Yeah? So my drip for the
day just happens to be all Gator inspired. So Rob,
you are missing how glorious my outfit is. Uh in
(04:53):
the booth, But you know, I remember Marquis and here
here's one of the things that I will say, you know,
he's a go that you know, we'll get in the
Hall of Fame. It will be probably a little bit
later than you know then. I'm sure a lot of
people would think. But you know, Marquise, I'll never forget.
He called me after he got drafted coming up to Pittsburgh,
(05:14):
and Uh, first thing you say, said, Max, Hey, can
I can I come over and cover the house? And
can I you know, can I meet with you? And
you know, we had a great dinner and we talked
about everything football, everything Pittsburgh and just him having the
wherewithal and this and just the knowledge and understanding, hey,
(05:35):
I need to figure all of this out. And he
didn't just ask, Hey, how do I how do I
get on the field really fast? You know, he didn't
ask that type of question, how do I make a
lot of money here? You know, he didn't. It was
what was my what can my impact be? What can
I do in the community, What can I do around
the city, What can I do for the organization? And
(05:56):
you know, we had a very long talk and you're
talking about eleven years, you know, nine Pro Bowls, two
All Pros. I mean, he did it He did it
all and he started right from the get go. As
as a rookie, you knew exactly who he was. So
to see Marquis and to see this honor, you know,
(06:17):
very proud of him. And he's a guy that will
go down as one of the all time greats. You're
talking about a guy you can mention in the same
breath as a Mike Webster. You can mention with the
GERMANI Dawson. He just like a Jeff Hardings, right, you
you he is in line for those great Steeler centers
and probably one of the most athletic interior linemen you
(06:40):
know that I play You know, I definitely that I
played with and definitely that that you've seen at that position.
You know, there's very few guys that could do what
he what what what he did? Yeah, he moved like
a max.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
When he needed to get out in the edge, you
could pull him like a guard, yeah right. And he
was strong enough to handle the big nose tackles inside.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, it was. It's amazing. You know. Rob I told
a story on Steelers Training Camp Live yesterday about his
first start in the preseason was against the New York Giants.
We were up in New York at East Rutherford and
we had a screen call to the left. I'll never
forget this. I was on the outside, so I was
(07:21):
clubbing the defensive end like up the field. It's called it,
you know, to get the influence and create the path
for the running back to receive the screen. And I
club my guy, and I'm going back to retrace. I
look up Markus. I personally watched him hit the nose,
tackle the linebacker, and then finish off with the safety.
(07:44):
He touched three different levels of defenders in one play,
and I just looked said, yeah, that's our new center, right,
that's him. Sorry, Hartwig, That that right there was That
was one of the most athletes things I've ever seen
on a football field from somebody over two hundred pounds.
(08:05):
It was. It was absolutely remarkable. And then as they say,
the rest is history.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
You know, Max, the center position is an interesting position
in Steelers history. You know, we have I think outside linebackers,
certainly over the last say thirty years, you know, the
advent of the three four defense and the way the
Steelers want to play and just that lineage. You know,
(08:31):
Joey talked about that a little bit yesterday. You know
in his era, you know he's getting it from you know,
Jason gilden say and passing it on to James Harrison,
And he talked about t J. Watt now being sort
of that next guy that kind of goes with the defense.
I don't know if the center position. You know, it
might be because you know, it starts with Mike Webster.
(08:54):
Obviously you get later in the draft, but it might
be because you know, the Steelers, this is one of
the things I think traditionally they've done a great job
of is getting great football players. So you know, when
you go to build a team, right, what do you think, Well,
you have to have a quarterback obviously on an offense,
and you have to have, say, a left tackle, and
then you have to have a running back, and you
(09:15):
have to have a game breaking receiver, you know, and
and as you start to go down the line, center's
kind of towards the end of the list there. You know,
maybe it depending upon your offense, maybe it's tight end,
but centers down the list of the quote unquote. You know, priorities,
if you know the prototypes when you're building a team,
but when you're drafting late, like the Steelers, always are.
(09:37):
You can either grab say the seventh best offensive tackle
or maybe the best center. And I think the Steelers
have done a wonderful job, not just at the center position,
but other positions of getting great players because great players
will have a trickle down effect. Marquise Pouncy is going
to make life a little bit easier for your guards.
He's going to make a life a little bit easier
(09:58):
for your perimeter blockers because you athletic can get out there.
But regardless of how they've gotten them, Uh, you know,
you just we obviously you know Webster, Germadi Dawson, Pouncy.
But in between, you know, Hartwick was a good player.
Jeff Hardings was an outstanding player. I mean those three
I think we just mentioned at the top Webster, Dawson,
(10:19):
and Pouncy stand above all others. But Jeff Hardings was
a really good football player. It's been remarkable the run
they've had at the center position. And and Zach Fraser
is stepping into really a legacy position for the Steelers.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Yeah, no, he is stepping into a position, like you said,
in Steeler history, that's that's exalted. Yeah, you know, not
a lot of people would think, oh, yes, no, No,
the center position specifically has singled out. You know, Rob
if you if you go into the Steelers facility and
go upstates on the second level kind of in between
(10:57):
like some of the and in the hallways and nooks
and crane, and he's you know, there's various like photos,
Like you get near the team meeting room, it's every
team photo of the Steelers since they've been taking photos.
That's on that wall. You know. You go near the
wide receiver room and you just see the wide receiver
lists and pictures of each guy. You know, linebackers the same.
(11:22):
But when you get to the offensive line, it's right
down from Coach Townland's office upstairs, and he sits upstairs,
and you kind of go down the hallway. Wide receivers
are on the right, then offensive line, then quarterbacks are
right across the hall from us, and then there's a
little nook hallway where there's there's a staff meeting room,
and there's the bathrooms upstairs, and they have the O
(11:46):
l and then the center has its own subcategory and
pictures with it. So they make an effort the center,
even though he is a part of the O line,
but the center position has its own special recognition upstairs,
because like you said, you've had you know, two Hall
(12:09):
of Fame sinners, and you know, we'll argue there will
be a third one there will, you know, sooner rather
than later. But you know that's that's when you're like, Okay,
this is something we take pride, and this is something
we're pretty good at finding that talent. And yeah, I
think you know when you think of the line and
you're Zach Frazier, you have to take special pride when
(12:30):
you walk up there, and even though you might be
heading to the head or to the staff room, you know, hey,
this is its own social career. I can I can
get in the conversation with these guys, you know, but
it's going to be a long road because there is
a lot of talent and a lot of expectations for
that position. You know. One of the things that has
(12:51):
just been phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
In getting closer and closer with the Steelers organization with
my duties. A couple of years ago, I was with
Wolf and we were at a we were doing the
alumni dinner. We did that for a couple of years,
and you know, the alumni come over and you're interviewing
guys and we have you know, Larry Brown is there.
Obviously started as a tight end, wound up being a
(13:17):
terrific tackle.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Looks like he could still play, you know.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yeah, And Marquise Pouncy was there and Larry Brown said,
you know, you could have played with us, And I
thought to myself, in a lot of sports, and maybe
in a lot of organizations.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
People would say, what are you talking about, old man.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
You know, uh, we would have whooped your tail or whatever,
you know, whatever, whatever your whatever your thought process would
have been. And you know, when Larry left, I asked Marquise,
I was like, you know, does that.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Mean something to you?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
And he was like, absolutely, man, that is just he
you know, you could tell he thought it was cool.
And I think that's cool about Steelers history. And we
talk about this with you know, we talked, we touched
on it a couple of shows ago about the leadership
being passed down, you know, Cam Hayward and TJ.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Watt.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
You know why it's so important to keep these guys
here because the way they go about their business, the
way they behave on and off the field, is going
to set the tone for the next generation. And so
there's a cohesiveness that exists within the Steelers organization that
I doubt exists among very other, very many other organizations,
(14:30):
if any at all, certainly to the extent of the Steelers.
But I just think that that that's it's a bit
of a side of what we're talking about. But it
reminded me of Marquise that that's just a cool part
of Steelers history.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
No, it absolutely is. And I think the reason why
it's it's a little more special here than it is
in a lot of other places is that it stems generations. Right,
the seventies started this foundation, and then you had the
success run of the early two thousands, and there you've
(15:06):
had two separate points where there was a certain level
of dominance by a team and a certain you know,
I'm sure a lot of egos would say, oh, how
can you use this word but fear from the rest
of the league, or you know, you could call it
a certain level of respect. And there's processes and similarities,
(15:30):
and like you said, you have these swaths of greatness
that are encapsulated in specific snapshots in history, and when
you do it once, it's phenomenal, but then you get
to do it a second time. And then you create
the standards that are in place today. Right, That's why
you hear the standard as the standard. And I think,
like you said, there's not many places to do it,
(15:51):
because New England had one, you know, one just fireball moment,
right that yielded all all six of their trophies within
a quote unquote relatively short amount of time, and it
was with one coach, one player, and a mix of
other pieces. San Francisco had the snap shot mid eighties
(16:15):
through early nineties where THEIRS kind of spanned over in
concurrent quote unquote generations for THEIRS, and they've been looking
for it. The Cowboys, you could argue, right, had stints
in the seventies and then yeah, they're probably the closest.
(16:36):
But other than that, I mean, you know, for even
for Green Bay, I mean green but yeah, they won
them in the beginning. They won all these NFL championships
before the merger. But you've had good teams, you know,
you know, with Parved and they won one that Aaron
Wins won. But even then, because it was such a
(16:56):
long gap, it wasn't really the same. But yeah, I
would argue Dallas as the closest. Green Bay will probably
come next, yep, and then after that field Yeah, I
think I think.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
You're exactly right, and you point out Green Bay. You know,
I just remember, you know, they brought Bart starback as
coach in the seventies, and what's going on and why
can't this team win championships anymore? And you know, I
do think when people talk about when fans talk about, hey,
the non losing seasons, they don't mean anything. And I
(17:28):
understand that. I understand where they're coming from. And I
you know, you only have to be around this. See
there's organization for so long to understand that. They don't
celebrate we got into the playoffs. Other cities will celebrate
we got into the playoffs. That's not celebrated in Pittsburgh.
And yet the fact that the organization continues to win.
(17:50):
They haven't gone through these huge slough periods where you know,
they're just non competitive. And I think all the other again,
the Steelers, maybe the Cowboys a little less. So there
they're the ones whose record is Steelers A tied or
broke last year. I can't remember of most consecutive non
losing seasons from the mid sixties to the mid eighties, they.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Had some down periods.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Green Bay had some down periods the students, you know,
you have two seasons where you go seven and nine
and that that's it, man, that's your down seat. That's
your down cycle in a in a fifty five year period.
So it is remarkable what they've been able to do,
and remarkable the legacy, and remarkable that here you are,
you know what, eight nine years into the Hall of
(18:35):
Honor and this is your class. Penn Roethlisberger, Marquis Pouncy
and Joey Porter. That's amazing. That's the first class for
so many organizations, and there's a lot of organizations that
wouldn't have players of that caliber in their first class.
So amazing stuff. We'll talk a little bit more about it.
Of course, we want to talk about the Steelers as well.
(18:57):
You're listening to the Locker Room with King and Starks,
presented Byrighborhood Ford Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Iheartradios. Live coverage of about twenty twenty five Steelers training
camp is presented by FedEx where Now meets Next and
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(19:30):
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by US steel.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
And welcome back inside the locker room with King Starts
presented by your neighborhood Fords Store. Here on the Steelers
Audio network, Max Starts is in Latrobe overseeing the fields there.
Overlooking the fields at Chucknol Stadium. I'm assuming that players
not quite out yet.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Max? Is that correct? U date there are no players
currently on the field nor trying to traverse two said field,
but the fields crew is out there. I see young
Zach uh drawing diagonal lines to create a pseudo coaches
box area on the sidelines. Uh Rick is Rick is
(20:20):
filling in some uh some some dirt and sand. There
we see the rest of the crew. I actually saw
one guy massaging seeds into the soil. Im I kid
you not, rob massaging seeds into the into the into
the ground like that was pretty pretty pretty Uh well,
I would say, what would you say? Uh, what would
(20:42):
you say? West very well dedicated.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Well, dedicated, well, I don't know, dedicated.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Determined, determined, insistent, being conscientious very much, so thank you
for that. They're being very pedantic. Oh that's a good
that's a good set word right there. Somebody studied the
night before, love it, love it love. But yeah, so
we have the grounds crew out here and they're working
(21:09):
on field one. Let me be more specific, working on
field one, because obviously that is the field that gets
the work, That is the field that everybody comes and
kind of encapsulates here up in La Trob at Saint
Vincent's College. So you know, you want to make that
you want to put your best side forward.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Well, you know, we have ninety men, all of them
large with cleats, running around in your lawn. After it's rained,
it's probably gonna get chewed up. I don't know if
there's anything you can do about that. It's going to
take some day.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
And with the amount of like weather that we've had
right right, it's wet, Yeah, it's wet. It's gonna yesterday.
I mean you were sitting here, I mean just the
like sheets of rain that poured down for like, you know,
for like an hour right on there, and luckily they
went to the turf field yesterday for their their walk
through practice which was which was of course to give
(22:03):
the grounds crew time to kind of deal with it
because you know, it's not something where they've needed to
tarp it yet. I think I don't think we've gotten
to the tarp phase yet with the with the rainstorms.
We did have a couple of those last year. You know,
Wolf and I were literally commentating the tarp rowing skills
of of the ball boys involved because it is a
(22:24):
show trying to get all of the field like covered
and then of course when they do remove the field.
But we haven't had to have we haven't had to
see any of those type of situations just yet. But
it is something that you know, the grounds crew is excellent.
They take that. I mean, they take this job very
seriously doing all of the lines that they're gonna do
(22:46):
because you can see the lines are kind of faded
from our angle up here, Rob, but you know they're
they're gonna this whole field. One is going to be
repainted before the end of this show, and it's a
lot of a lot of painted do. But I mean,
they're so good at what they do, and they take
their job so seriously, the irrigation here is just wonderful. Now, yep,
(23:08):
so it's gonna be a fun thing to watch. I
know fans are like, we don't care, But this is
what gets the product on the field, right, This is
what Keepsky's healthy and prevents injuries. Is the maintenance of
the ground, of the grounds and so the grounds crew,
you know, although they all get a lot of attention,
I mean, they're a very integral part of it. They
don't care.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
They don't care until a field gets chewed up and
the commentators talk about it, and now you're getting criticized,
and now you can right now you're fan, and now
you care. So no, I think those guys are unsung heroes.
And like you said, they're out there. You know, the
teams in their meetings, and these guys are out there.
These the players are going to their meetings. These guys
(23:49):
are going out to the field when the practice is over,
and the players are going back out to their post
practice meetings and dinner. The ground screws out there making
sure that the field is gonna be in perfect condition
for so all part of the well oiled machine at
Saint Vincent College. You know, Max I wanted to. You know,
the Hall of Honor is such a special thing. It
only happens, yeah, once a year. I did want to
(24:11):
ask you and delve into it just a little bit
further here. I will ask you if you remember we
were in our old building in an Alleghany Center, and
I believe it was was Stan Savereign still head sports beak.
I believe a guy was gone by then, so it
(24:31):
was just Stan hosting the show. And I know you
and Ben came in. I think you guys came in
in the same day.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Is that? Do you remember that Ben and I arrived
to Pittsburgh International at I mean, it felt like almost
the same exact time. I felt like we both like
descended the escalator down the baggage claim together and uh
and we were and we rode strictly. We rode straight
from the airport, straight to straight to uh, you know,
(25:02):
the north side to the Fson Pittsburgh right it was
Epson Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh building, and went straight on the
stands show. So and now was like the whole ride
was hey man, I'm Max. Hey Ben, you know it
was it was like we had to get to know
each other because we had never met. We were drafted
together like the week before, and we were coming in
(25:24):
right before mandatory rookie minicamp or mandatory mini camp was
no rookie in vets. It was just all one and
we literally came in the same day and we went
straight there before we went to the facility, and that
that's where we first got to know each other, was
on that car ride from the airport. That's cool to
stand studio.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
So yeah, in fact, I think, as I recall again,
now this is a long time ago, I believe that
for some reason, Ben walked in first and you walked
in second, or maybe the other way around, just separated
by a little bit. I don't know, if somebody had
to use the restroom maybe or something. I remember, look
at what I had to use the restaurant.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Okay, there you go. So so you're remembering this very well.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
For this is because I remember I saw because I
remember I saw Ben first and I thought that's a quarterback.
I mean, he was so wide. My first thought on him.
You know, he's a physically large man. He is big Ben.
He's what six five six four six five.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Yeah, like six four and a half. Yeah, yeah, AND's
plit the difference.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
I thought, this guy could easily easily be three hundred
pounds and have his hand in the dirt easily. That's
I mean, that's how big he is. He and I
was like, oh, my gosh, I cannot believe that's a quarterback.
Then by the way, Max came in and I was like, oh, whoa,
you know, because you got that guy. Now, this is
(26:55):
what a guy with his hand in the dirt actually
looks like, you know, at six seven, six eight success.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Uh, And I just remember, you know, just I remember
that procession being stunned at how big Ben was. And
like I said, I mean I don't know what Ben
played at maybe two fifty or thereabouts, but seriously, I mean,
if if you if he lived under a bench press rack,
he has that kind of frame. I mean, he's he
(27:23):
just has a large frame. And by the way, for
those people out there you know that, uh maybe don't
understand this to some degree. You know, Max was an
outstanding basketball player. Could have played college basketball. Ben Roethlisberger,
you know it was involved in a few pickup games
(27:44):
with him. He's definitely a guy that could have played, uh,
could have played basketball in college golfer.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Now, yeah, baseballs were really good to ca. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
And and you know, I played in one of the
I played in one of the Steelers charity basketball games.
It was difficult for me to play because usually, you know,
I had a hockey game or something and B. E.
Taylor had a group together and I played one game
with him, and I just remember, and I was much
(28:15):
younger in those days. I mean still you know, in
my forties, but you know, not not put out the
pasture yet. And I just remember I think it was
Chris Hoke uh. And I'm not gonna say Hokey was
a was a great hoops player, but he came down
the middle and I was I was like.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Oh my gosh, can he really move that fast?
Speaker 3 (28:36):
And that's Chris Hoke who's not probably at the front
of the line when it came to the sprint drills,
uh in practice. So just so you guys know that
are listening out there, how incredible the athletes are.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
And it's not just about you know, you see.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Ben out there and he's shaking guys off and moving
around and doing things, and you don't do that unless
you're a great athlete. But so that so I just
I wanted to make sure I remembered that first day
that I the first day I ever met you, the
first day I ever saw you. Yeah, I did not
know you had just come in from the airport with Ben.
But you know, from that moment on, you got a
(29:13):
front row seat for a good portion of Ben Roethlisberger's
career and you know, obviously a Canton type of career.
And you know, the the in the early progression, and
I remember talking, I think it was Jeff Harding saying,
you know, like first practice, you're like, whoa, look at
the arm Strengthen this guy, Holy mackerel.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
You know, so that's our fourth string, that's our fourth
stringer because he was taking he was taking remember he
was taking reps with the fours. Wow. Because you had
Tommy Maddox yep, you had Charlie Batch, and you had
Brian Saint Pierre. Yeah, then Ben was Ben was a
fourth quarterback on the depth chart when when we initially
(29:57):
got to uh to train it to mini camp.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Right, which you wasn't gonna last long. You don't take
a guy, you don't take a first stelt. You gotta
go through the process, right, got it?
Speaker 1 (30:07):
And the reason why he jumped up was because process
of elimination, right, because Charlie Charlie injures his collar bone, right,
So then he becomes a third string quarterback. Then Bryan
Saint Pierre gets injured, and then Ben gets thrust into
the number two spot right behind Tommy, and then Tommy
goes out the second game of the season in Baltimore
(30:28):
at the end of that first half, and Ben that's
how Ben gets to the starting job, you know, at
the end of week two, it almost brings us back
against Baltimore, and then of course assumes the mantle in
week three and then eighteen years later.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Yeah, I mean, just an incredible career for Ben Roethlisberger.
Obviously you witnessed it, Fans witnessed it, fans get to
see it up close. But as his teammate, what was
it like to witness him because you know, we'll forget,
you know, and Ben, after that first year, you know,
(31:04):
was handing the ball off a lot, and and you know,
I think great players want to show that they're great players,
and they they chaf a little bit at the idea
that they're being restrained. And I remember Ben wanted to
he wanted to open up the offense more. And I'm
pretty sure it was his second or third year he
led the league at interceptions. So it wasn't It's easy
(31:24):
to look back now and say, oh it was. You know,
you started at the bottom left in the graph and
moved up to the top right in the graph.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I mean there were some there were some bumps along
the road.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
But what was it like to witness that, you know,
the beginning and then and then seeing him develop into
that Hall of Fame quarterback.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
I mean, you know, you hit it king. I mean
I played with Ben exactly half of his career, right
his first nine years we were together. I was his
locker mate also for those first nine years, Like we were,
we were literally right next to each other from the beginning,
and you know, we we were young men learning how
(32:03):
to be grown men, and I think that was the
biggest thing. And you know, we just we went out,
We just had fun. We wanted We love to compete,
and nobody loved to compete more than Ben Roethlisberg. I
will say of my teammates, like Ben was the most
consistently competitive human being I've ever been around at that point,
(32:27):
because I played with some good quarterbacks in college, right.
You know, so I wasn't a stranger to seeing a
guy who was gifted and skilled and had the traits
to be a starter, Like I had Jesse Palmer as
my quarterback in college and Rex Grossman, right, and so
I so I was used to the talent at the position.
But Ben was on a whole other stratosphere. And you know,
(32:48):
you talked about those first years we had to get
comfortable with what he could and couldn't do, and you
know it was a feeling out period with Ken wizen
Hunt and uh and we were we were a run
heavy team because you got Jerome Bettison Duce Staley in
the backfield, right, I mean, how do you not I
mean Jerome Bettis, you know, goes down number two all time,
(33:10):
you know, in a lot of stats and categories. And
it was him and Curtis Martin in our era because
obviously EMMITTT. Smith had just eclipsed and broke and created
all the brand new records. But I mean, you know,
for Jerome to be back there, and you knew it
was cowards the end of Jerome's career, right, we had
two years with Jerome. He wanted to make sure you
utilize those things. I mean, nobody would argue that that
(33:32):
that Chicago game in O five, you know, you're talking
about a quintessential, you know, historic type of game for
Jerome Bettis where you're like, ah, does he still have
it or not? So you know, we went through that
early process where were trying to figure out, well, what's
the right balance for Ben and and you know, then
you saw the maturation, right you saw him grow, You
(33:55):
saw the playbook unlock more and more, and then it culminates.
I feel like the moment when we knew Ben was
was Ben, Ben was Super Bowl forty three, you know,
and the drive at the end of the game, the
play to Santonio which we could have scored on the
(34:16):
play before because Been put it in a perfect place
and Santonio kind of kind of rounded off the route
a little bit short. We get back, he's like, he's like,
we're running the same thing to the right. He's like,
he's like, don't round the route. You know. But at
that point, I mean, you saw the drive. It was dark,
dart dart dart dart down the field.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Didn't he sorry to interrupt you, didn't he have like
a long run on like a second and twenty five
on that drive or something else.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Well, yeah, he had penalty first play of the drive.
As I recalled, there was a penalty. And we don't
want to talk about that. We would not to talk
about that one. That's still a sore subject in our
offensive line room, even in our group chat. It's still
a sore subject all these years later. Uh. But but
you know, it was it was that. It was that
willingness and that drive. And that's the one thing you
could say over Ben's career, like Ben wanted the ball
(35:08):
in his hands. You know, you talk about certain people
like throughout history, like Mario Lemieux, right, he wanted to
puck in his hands at the you know, on his
stick at the end of the game. Wayne Gretzky, you know,
Michael Jordan, a guy, Kobe like, they wanted the ball
in the Martinez. I wouldn't go that far, but yes,
Game seven, Pedro come, come.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
But you know, and I'm glad you mentioned that because again,
the athleticism, the competitiveness, you know people you know, sometimes
fans will say, oh, you know, and and some guys
and teammates will be critical of a guy's work ethic.
So first of all, just just understand that the bottom
line work ethic of a professional football player would have
(35:52):
most almost every other human crying for their mommy, right,
I mean, and then beyond that is where the competitiveness
and the al dogs among the alpha dogs, because everybody
in the NFL man, they're an alpha dog. And then
there's alpha dogs within. You know, if you took all
the alpha dogs in the role of the put him
in a and put him in a pack, some of
those alpha dogs within the alpha dogs are gonna rise above.
(36:13):
That's what the NFL is. That's what Ben Roethlisberger was,
you know to be. The other thing too, is that
you know some guys have you know, singular styles, right,
you know, Mike Vick, you knew what he was gonna do.
Fran Tarkenton had a style. Even Tom Brady had a style.
Ben had a unique style, you know he did. And
I think that that's a that's a wonderful thing to
(36:33):
have as a as a player. Is the the style
of play that he had, which we could talk about.
We can't talk about now because we have to take
a break.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
But but we could talk for a long time. Oh,
we could talk about a lot.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
You're in the locker Room with King and Starks, presented
by your neighborhood fordsho are here on this two there's
audio network.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
iHeart Radios live coverage. I'm about twenty twenty five Steelers
training Camp. He's presented by FedEx Where now meets next
and also brought to you by bud Light, Independence Health
System by Pennsylvania One Call System, by Live Casino, Calciente
Pizza and Draft House by Tom's Appliances, South Hills Auto,
(37:16):
Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau, We Max Select Realty, the Pittsburgh
Steelers Pro Shop and by US Steel.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
And we welcome you back to the locker Room with
King and Starks, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store. Here
on this too, there's audio network as we spend just
a couple more minutes looking back at the Hall of
Honor class with Max Starks, who has intimate knowledge of
all three guys. Just talked a little bit about Ben Roethlisberger.
You played the shortest period of time with Joey Porter
(37:47):
was just a year back that you played with No
No No.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
I had Joey for I had Joey for four years wow.
And I was with Pounds for three years. Okay, so
pounds would be the shortest by by a year between
him and him and Joey.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
Mine forgets some of those years, by the way, but
I did remember that appearance with at Savagage.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Amaze what you remember forget? Max? Anyway? Yeah, Regard, Hey,
that was great recall for it. I mean you're talking
about twenty one years ago. Uh yeah, Cager, and you
had you had you had that dial down to to
who went to the bathroom? You know what I'm saying, Like,
I mean that that's not just good, that's that's pretty
that's pretty darn great. You don't have to worry about
taking fish oil pills anytime soon. Thank you, Memory, Thank you.
(38:33):
It's still taking him though, Uh, just in case, and
and the mushroom powder.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
In my coffee if you haven't gone there yet, Max,
little little Lion's man, little Charga.
Speaker 1 (38:41):
That's exactly right. Oh absolutely, yeah, no, I got I
got all the tricks of the trade too. Yeah, I
swear that's work. But who knows, uh could listen or not?
Doesn't match exactly, could be that Cabo is exactly right.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
So I did want to you know, I mentioned this
yesterday during the show and I remember it was a
couple of years ago, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Smith
was inducted into the Hall of Honor, and I was
interviewing him and asking him about guys that I thought
might get into the future, including Joey Porter, and he
described him as by far the best teammate he's ever had.
(39:18):
I was like, WHOA, that's saying something. And you just
talked about, you know, what a great teammate Aaron Smith
was a couple of days ago and we're talking about
the defensive line and and you know, various positions guys
could play, and how Aaron could have played really all
along the defensive line. High praise for Joey Porter, and
he said, look, you just knew that Joey Porter always
(39:39):
had your back. You know, we see the emotional leader
and the yelling and all that other stuff. But you know,
he felt like and Joey kind of said that too,
like you know, that's he kind of felt like that
was his role. We know what a great player he was,
and you never can tell on the outside when a
guy is just you know, and I'm not saying this
is Joey, but you think about other athletes sometimes somebody
(40:01):
calls attention to themselves, Well are they being a leader?
Speaker 1 (40:04):
They just being crass? Who knows?
Speaker 3 (40:06):
What's important is what the guy somebody's teammates feel. It
doesn't matter what the media feels, doesn't matter what the
fans feel. How do your teammates feel about you? I
thought that was really high praise from Aaron Smith about
Joey Porter, because we know he was a great football player.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
No, absolutely, I mean, and you're talking about the skills.
I mean, you know this is a guy who is
an All Pro, who was a multiple Pro bowler, and
a guy who struck fear in opponents and you needed
that face. You know that quote unquote villain so to speak.
And I you know, I use that term very loosely,
(40:44):
right because I mean you also have a guy who
picked up the mantle as soon as Joey left, and
James Harrison and a guy who embraced that role as well. Yeah,
every good wrestler needs a heel, right right, And you
need to have that heel because the heel drum up
the emotional value. You know, that catalyst so to speak.
(41:05):
For a lot of things. You have the good catalyst,
and then of course you have the bad catalyst. But
at the end of this, it's all combustion, right, It's
all about creating that fuel. And you know there's no
bad fuel, right. You know, when you're when you're trying
to keep a fire pit open, you're grabbing anything necessary,
whether it's grass, whether it's wood, or whether it's you know,
(41:26):
or or or it's just straight lighter fluid. You know,
you pour that in there. I mean, just ask a
couple of uncles on a Saturday in front of a grill, right,
you know, everybody loves some good some good lighter fluid,
never have too much charcoal. But that's what he was.
He was the lighter fluid on the grill. And you
know for us, you know, just like just like you
know Aaron Smith said, right, you knew he had your back,
(41:49):
and you knew you had to back his play as well.
Like he's like, hey, guys, if I'm gonna go out
here and sell it, I need you guys to make
sure that you have my back because I'm gonna have yours.
And it didn't matter. It wasn't just a defensive thing.
And I think that's the other thing when we're talking
about like look at historically, like at that era, at
those teams, right, we all were one and I think
(42:12):
that's something. And that's why I said. We were just
young and we just love to compete. And you know,
I was having this conversation, you know, last night, we
were sitting up top under the tent up top there
where we normally film the TV show or the Steelers
training Camp live show. You know, I was sitting there
with Troy and Ike and we were just you know,
we're just we're just hanging out, right, you know, we're
(42:33):
just hanging out, just talking, and it was and we
were talking about you know, we got to asked the question, Hey,
what made y'all's ara so special? And you know the
answer was, I mean we played for each other like
we like we were one team. I know. Yeah, you
have the yellow jerseys on one side, and you know,
as as I'm watching the players kind of ascend the
field for here for walkthrough, obviously trying to take care
(42:56):
of the grass fields, they're gonna do their walk through
on the artificial field. But yeah, you had white and
yellow when it came to practice. But we were all
Steelers when we got in that locker room and when
we left the facility, and if one guy was out,
all of us was out. You know, if one guy
was in a place, all of us were gonna eventually
make it to that place. And it wasn't oh, where's
(43:18):
the offensive guy going, or where's the defensive guy going,
or where's the offensive line going. It wasn't It wasn't
position groups, it wasn't sides of the ball. We supported
each other, you know. I was just apt to go
hang with Charlie Batch, as I was with Alan Fanica,
as I was with Casey Hampton, Ryan Clark, when Ryan
(43:39):
got here, you know Troy, you know, we always knew
there was one night a year we could always pull
Troy out and he'd go have a couple glasses of
wine out with us. You know, I mean, everybody just
hung and if we had a charity event, all of
us showed up to each other's charity event to support
each other. You know, I can't tell you, you know,
I mean I had darn near the whole team. When
I did this program with UPMC the Rehab Institute with
(44:01):
my wife, it's called Gridiron Gaming, where we did adaptive
gaming with patients, and almost my whole team showed up.
You know, and we were in the like this little
small like spot like inside of UPMC and we're in
one of the hospitals, and it was it was like
standing room over. It was so tight. Then the next
(44:21):
year we actually moved it to the to the club
at the stadium because it was just so big. We
had so many people. But I mean, but that and
that's the love, right, I mean that that's what really
matters when you think about like going back and thinking
of the history of us, Like, we have so many
things that we did on the field as a group
that are memorable, you know, the moments. You know, you
(44:41):
think of interceptions, touchdown drives, big plays, But we had
all of that off the field as well, with the
impact for each other and the care and we truly
loved each other.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
You know.
Speaker 1 (44:53):
I could go hang with Jeff Reid just as easily
as I could go hang with James Ferrier, and we
we all went to everything together. I think that's what
that's what kind of made it special, is that we
just all were one. We were just a milane of bodies.
And you know, Troy told a story because we were
talking about just how tough camp was, about how coach
Cower used to start training camp with, uh, you know,
(45:14):
every practice morning and afternoon with goal line droe, which
now has kind of evolved under Mike Tomlin has seven shots,
like that's the competitive right, We're going to be physical
to the whistle type of plays. But I remember one
we talked about one year. We put Big Hamp at
full back right and and Big Hamp you know, was
(45:35):
lining up against against his boys right on defense. But
Troy was like, he's like, yeah, once Hamp went to
that other side, it was like, yeah, we love you, Hamp,
but we're we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna have to
beat you up. I'll never forget. This is the very
first play and this and to one of our and
we're talking about our tough tevs and kind of the
depth we had back then. Clint Kreewall was in at
(45:57):
the inside backer and Clint's assignment was the fullback. Didn't
matter who the fullback was, it was the fullback. And
that's ultimately you know what happened. I mean, Clint came
in and Clint and Hamp are very two different size differentials,
and you know, linebackers back then, they didn't cut tackle
(46:18):
linebackers for the Steelers hit you head up, and that
was one of the things that was just a staple
on what you did. Like Jack Lambert was not going
to cut tackle you, right, you know, Jack ham Andy Russell.
They're not cut tackling. They're coming straight to go through
your chest. And it's like the best way to build
a tunnel is to go through the mountain, right, That's
how they always thought. And so Clint went right through
(46:41):
a big hamp and stood hamp up. But that was
also the very last play of Clint Kreewalk's career after that,
but he had to pay. He was on the other
side of the ball. And that's how competitive we were.
We did not want each other to succeed on the
practice field, right, they had whatever we had to do
to make to make us better than you. That was
(47:03):
the true iron sharpens iron type of moment. And so
we're just talking about like those type of moments. I mean,
we sat up, you know, almost all night. It felt
like just sharing stories and just kind of just talking.
I mean, and that's the other thing that makes it fun.
We have a lot of memories to lean off of
each other, and that's what you build here at training camp,
you build those memories. And that's why I don't take
(47:24):
any of these things for granted. And when we're talking
about the evaluation process, I want to see how guys
blend and how they melt. I want to see for sure,
not only what you do on the field, but what
do you do in the locker room. What are you
doing up up in the up up in the dorms, Like,
how are you guys hanging like in the off hours? No,
because all of that matters in team bonding and really
making a special team. Uh. When you're talking about those
(47:47):
really good teams and then those exceptional teams, those super
Bowl caliber teams, it comes down to chemistry, no doubt
about it.
Speaker 3 (47:53):
And that's very unique, and so is Max Stark's always.
Uh love talking to my friend. I know next hour
you got Wes Euler with you, and then no show
tomorrow because no practice. So I will talk with you
and see you hopefully, uh Lord Willing in person on
Tuesday morning in the trobe.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
Hey, you got you got, Hey, you're you're you're pulling
your Jamaican right now. You got you got, you got
turteen jobs? Yes you gotta go.
Speaker 3 (48:19):
Uh, I'm gonna go do a little pirate baseball here.
By the way, we're celebrating uh Dave Parker getting into
the Hall of Fame. Oh man, that's way, way, way
overdue for him. And by the way, for Dick Allen,
who's from Wampam just a little bit uh north of
the city, another guy that should in my opinion, both
those guys should have been in the Hall of Fame
(48:39):
years ago.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
So I'm glad they're both going in.
Speaker 3 (48:42):
But of course Dave Parker being a pirate, we're celebrating
the Cobra, so I'm part of that and part of
the celebration all weekend on Dave Parker getting into the
Hall of Fame. Up next, it is going to be
Max Starks and Wes Euler as we continue with the
locker room with King and Starks, presented by your neighborhood
Ford Store.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Here on this steer, there's Audio Network
My HEARTRAU is accessed.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Iheartradios. Live coverage of about twenty twenty five Steelers Training
Camp is presented by Vedex where Now meets Next and
also brought to you by bud Light, Independence Health System
by Pennsylvania One Call System, by Live Casino, Caliente Pizza
and Draft House by Tom's Appliances, South Hills Auto, Laurel,
(00:31):
Highlands Visitors Bureau, we Max Select, Real Team, the Pittsburgh
Steelers Pro Shop and by us Steel.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Hello and welcome inside the Locker Room with King and
Starch presented by your neighborhood Ford Store on the Steelers
Audio Network. I'm Rob King, joined by Max Starks as
always Wes, you are also a board. We have Justin
Miller at the controls in our studios back at DVE
and everybody's here at the the cast is assembled.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Max. How you doing today? You know what Rob? I
am doing quite all right? You know yesterday was It
was a good day yesterday as far as as far
as practice, but most poorly I got to see one
of my one of my good friends, Wayne Pintar, his
son Austin got married yesterday to a beautiful young lady
(01:23):
Rachel and Uh. So I got to go see them
after practice. So that was fun to take a trip
into the city and celebrate the newest of the Pinar family.
So I had a great day yesterday.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
That is a great day, man, That is a great day.
So obviously I did the first hour with you yesterday,
obviously for the people listening that were listening yesterday. Then
Wes Uler took over and I went over to the
Steelers Hall of Honor induction announcement show, and I wanted
to get your thoughts before we get back into practice
(01:57):
in the trop because this is a big deal. First
of all, well this was conceived by Art Running back
in twenty seventeen. Your general thoughts, Max on the Hall
of Honor and and what it means for the Steelers
and an organization. Uh, and the fact there just so
many great players that the Steelers can induct into that
Hall of Honor.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I love the class. You know. I got to play
with all three of those guys. I was blessed to
call them teammates, to call them brothers, but most importantly
call them friends. You know, I think when you look
at just each of the each of the men, and
Joey Porter was up here at practice yesterday. Of course,
(02:41):
you guys got got to have it, and so get
the ceps out on on the on the field and
also address the crowd briefly, I was I was hoping
for for who, you know, I was hoping for one
of those didn't didn't get it, didn't get it was
more emotional and professional, uh, which I can appreciate. But
(03:01):
just starting with him, I mean, he was he was
the guy that Ben and I both saw when we
came into this league. He was he was the vocal
and physical leader on the defensive side of the ball
for the Steelers back in two thousand and four when
we were rookies and going down right here on the
field and having to go one on one pass rush.
(03:24):
You know, you know, your first day you're like, oh
my gosh, Joey Porter, and then getting to know him,
you know, just over time, he's well deserving of this,
of this honor. You know, we could always argue, hey,
when should they have been in. He's in when he
was supposed to be in. And you know, I think
(03:45):
that's the biggest thing is that he was a guy
you knew he was going in. It was just when
was he going to go in. So I mean just
you know, you think about the sixty sacks, the emotional
leader that he was changing rules in the league good,
better and different how you want to describe those type
of rules. There's a reason why teams can't go past
the forty five. It's because of Joey Porter and uh
(04:09):
and just a tremendous, tremendous athlete. And now you know,
you see so good that the Steelers are like, well,
we need we need we need your your your your
carbon copy, we need we need the DNA, the bloodline.
And Joey Porter Junior being here as well to see
his dad going into the Hall of Honor, you know,
right right before practice. I have to imagine is a
(04:30):
pretty cool thing. And then of course Marquise Pouncey, Marquise
is that man that that was That was a little
bro as as Wes could tell you, My my drip
for the day is that? Is that? How you use it?
Is that? Right? Westcott? Yeah? So my drip for the
day just happens to be all Gator inspired. So Rob,
you are missing how glorious my outfit is. Uh in
(04:53):
the booth, But you know, I remember Marquis and here
here's one of the things that I will say, you know,
he's a go that you know, we'll get in the
Hall of Fame. It will be probably a little bit
later than you know then. I'm sure a lot of
people would think. But you know, Marquise, I'll never forget.
He called me after he got drafted coming up to Pittsburgh,
(05:14):
and Uh, first thing you say, said, Max, Hey, can
I can I come over and cover the house? And
can I you know, can I meet with you? And
you know, we had a great dinner and we talked
about everything football, everything Pittsburgh and just him having the
wherewithal and this and just the knowledge and understanding, hey,
(05:35):
I need to figure all of this out. And he
didn't just ask, Hey, how do I how do I
get on the field really fast? You know, he didn't
ask that type of question, how do I make a
lot of money here? You know, he didn't. It was
what was my what can my impact be? What can
I do in the community, What can I do around
the city, What can I do for the organization? And
(05:56):
you know, we had a very long talk and you're
talking about eleven years, you know, nine Pro Bowls, two
All Pros. I mean, he did it He did it
all and he started right from the get go. As
as a rookie, you knew exactly who he was. So
to see Marquis and to see this honor, you know,
(06:17):
very proud of him. And he's a guy that will
go down as one of the all time greats. You're
talking about a guy you can mention in the same
breath as a Mike Webster. You can mention with the
GERMANI Dawson. He just like a Jeff Hardings, right, you
you he is in line for those great Steeler centers
and probably one of the most athletic interior linemen you
(06:40):
know that I play You know, I definitely that I
played with and definitely that that you've seen at that position.
You know, there's very few guys that could do what
he what what what he did? Yeah, he moved like
a max.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
When he needed to get out in the edge, you
could pull him like a guard, yeah right. And he
was strong enough to handle the big nose tackles inside.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, it was. It's amazing. You know. Rob I told
a story on Steelers Training Camp Live yesterday about his
first start in the preseason was against the New York Giants.
We were up in New York at East Rutherford and
we had a screen call to the left. I'll never
forget this. I was on the outside, so I was
(07:21):
clubbing the defensive end like up the field. It's called it,
you know, to get the influence and create the path
for the running back to receive the screen. And I
club my guy, and I'm going back to retrace. I
look up Markus. I personally watched him hit the nose,
tackle the linebacker, and then finish off with the safety.
(07:44):
He touched three different levels of defenders in one play,
and I just looked said, yeah, that's our new center, right,
that's him. Sorry, Hartwig, That that right there was That
was one of the most athletes things I've ever seen
on a football field from somebody over two hundred pounds.
(08:05):
It was. It was absolutely remarkable. And then as they say,
the rest is history.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
You know, Max, the center position is an interesting position
in Steelers history. You know, we have I think outside linebackers,
certainly over the last say thirty years, you know, the
advent of the three four defense and the way the
Steelers want to play and just that lineage. You know,
(08:31):
Joey talked about that a little bit yesterday. You know
in his era, you know he's getting it from you know,
Jason gilden say and passing it on to James Harrison,
And he talked about t J. Watt now being sort
of that next guy that kind of goes with the defense.
I don't know if the center position. You know, it
might be because you know, it starts with Mike Webster.
(08:54):
Obviously you get later in the draft, but it might
be because you know, the Steelers, this is one of
the things I think traditionally they've done a great job
of is getting great football players. So you know, when
you go to build a team, right, what do you think, Well,
you have to have a quarterback obviously on an offense,
and you have to have, say, a left tackle, and
then you have to have a running back, and you
(09:15):
have to have a game breaking receiver, you know, and
and as you start to go down the line, center's
kind of towards the end of the list there. You know,
maybe it depending upon your offense, maybe it's tight end,
but centers down the list of the quote unquote. You know, priorities,
if you know the prototypes when you're building a team,
but when you're drafting late, like the Steelers, always are.
(09:37):
You can either grab say the seventh best offensive tackle
or maybe the best center. And I think the Steelers
have done a wonderful job, not just at the center position,
but other positions of getting great players because great players
will have a trickle down effect. Marquise Pouncy is going
to make life a little bit easier for your guards.
He's going to make a life a little bit easier
(09:58):
for your perimeter blockers because you athletic can get out there.
But regardless of how they've gotten them, Uh, you know,
you just we obviously you know Webster, Germadi Dawson, Pouncy.
But in between, you know, Hartwick was a good player.
Jeff Hardings was an outstanding player. I mean those three
I think we just mentioned at the top Webster, Dawson,
(10:19):
and Pouncy stand above all others. But Jeff Hardings was
a really good football player. It's been remarkable the run
they've had at the center position. And and Zach Fraser
is stepping into really a legacy position for the Steelers.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Yeah, no, he is stepping into a position, like you said,
in Steeler history, that's that's exalted. Yeah, you know, not
a lot of people would think, oh, yes, no, No,
the center position specifically has singled out. You know, Rob
if you if you go into the Steelers facility and
go upstates on the second level kind of in between
(10:57):
like some of the and in the hallways and nooks
and crane, and he's you know, there's various like photos,
Like you get near the team meeting room, it's every
team photo of the Steelers since they've been taking photos.
That's on that wall. You know. You go near the
wide receiver room and you just see the wide receiver
lists and pictures of each guy. You know, linebackers the same.
(11:22):
But when you get to the offensive line, it's right
down from Coach Townland's office upstairs, and he sits upstairs,
and you kind of go down the hallway. Wide receivers
are on the right, then offensive line, then quarterbacks are
right across the hall from us, and then there's a
little nook hallway where there's there's a staff meeting room,
and there's the bathrooms upstairs, and they have the O
(11:46):
l and then the center has its own subcategory and
pictures with it. So they make an effort the center,
even though he is a part of the O line,
but the center position has its own special recognition upstairs,
because like you said, you've had you know, two Hall
(12:09):
of Fame sinners, and you know, we'll argue there will
be a third one there will, you know, sooner rather
than later. But you know that's that's when you're like, Okay,
this is something we take pride, and this is something
we're pretty good at finding that talent. And yeah, I
think you know when you think of the line and
you're Zach Frazier, you have to take special pride when
(12:30):
you walk up there, and even though you might be
heading to the head or to the staff room, you know, hey,
this is its own social career. I can I can
get in the conversation with these guys, you know, but
it's going to be a long road because there is
a lot of talent and a lot of expectations for
that position. You know. One of the things that has
(12:51):
just been phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
In getting closer and closer with the Steelers organization with
my duties. A couple of years ago, I was with
Wolf and we were at a we were doing the
alumni dinner. We did that for a couple of years,
and you know, the alumni come over and you're interviewing
guys and we have you know, Larry Brown is there.
Obviously started as a tight end, wound up being a
(13:17):
terrific tackle.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Looks like he could still play, you know.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yeah, And Marquise Pouncy was there and Larry Brown said,
you know, you could have played with us, And I
thought to myself, in a lot of sports, and maybe
in a lot of organizations.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
People would say, what are you talking about, old man.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
You know, uh, we would have whooped your tail or whatever,
you know, whatever, whatever your whatever your thought process would
have been. And you know, when Larry left, I asked Marquise,
I was like, you know, does that.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Mean something to you?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
And he was like, absolutely, man, that is just he
you know, you could tell he thought it was cool.
And I think that's cool about Steelers history. And we
talk about this with you know, we talked, we touched
on it a couple of shows ago about the leadership
being passed down, you know, Cam Hayward and TJ.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Watt.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
You know why it's so important to keep these guys
here because the way they go about their business, the
way they behave on and off the field, is going
to set the tone for the next generation. And so
there's a cohesiveness that exists within the Steelers organization that
I doubt exists among very other, very many other organizations,
(14:30):
if any at all, certainly to the extent of the Steelers.
But I just think that that that's it's a bit
of a side of what we're talking about. But it
reminded me of Marquise that that's just a cool part
of Steelers history.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
No, it absolutely is. And I think the reason why
it's it's a little more special here than it is
in a lot of other places is that it stems generations. Right,
the seventies started this foundation, and then you had the
success run of the early two thousands, and there you've
(15:06):
had two separate points where there was a certain level
of dominance by a team and a certain you know,
I'm sure a lot of egos would say, oh, how
can you use this word but fear from the rest
of the league, or you know, you could call it
a certain level of respect. And there's processes and similarities,
(15:30):
and like you said, you have these swaths of greatness
that are encapsulated in specific snapshots in history, and when
you do it once, it's phenomenal, but then you get
to do it a second time. And then you create
the standards that are in place today. Right, That's why
you hear the standard as the standard. And I think,
like you said, there's not many places to do it,
(15:51):
because New England had one, you know, one just fireball moment,
right that yielded all all six of their trophies within
a quote unquote relatively short amount of time, and it
was with one coach, one player, and a mix of
other pieces. San Francisco had the snap shot mid eighties
(16:15):
through early nineties where THEIRS kind of spanned over in
concurrent quote unquote generations for THEIRS, and they've been looking
for it. The Cowboys, you could argue, right, had stints
in the seventies and then yeah, they're probably the closest.
(16:36):
But other than that, I mean, you know, for even
for Green Bay, I mean green but yeah, they won
them in the beginning. They won all these NFL championships
before the merger. But you've had good teams, you know,
you know, with Parved and they won one that Aaron
Wins won. But even then, because it was such a
(16:56):
long gap, it wasn't really the same. But yeah, I
would argue Dallas as the closest. Green Bay will probably
come next, yep, and then after that field Yeah, I
think I think.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
You're exactly right, and you point out Green Bay. You know,
I just remember, you know, they brought Bart starback as
coach in the seventies, and what's going on and why
can't this team win championships anymore? And you know, I
do think when people talk about when fans talk about, hey,
the non losing seasons, they don't mean anything. And I
(17:28):
understand that. I understand where they're coming from. And I
you know, you only have to be around this. See
there's organization for so long to understand that. They don't
celebrate we got into the playoffs. Other cities will celebrate
we got into the playoffs. That's not celebrated in Pittsburgh.
And yet the fact that the organization continues to win.
(17:50):
They haven't gone through these huge slough periods where you know,
they're just non competitive. And I think all the other again,
the Steelers, maybe the Cowboys a little less. So there
they're the ones whose record is Steelers A tied or
broke last year. I can't remember of most consecutive non
losing seasons from the mid sixties to the mid eighties, they.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Had some down periods.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Green Bay had some down periods the students, you know,
you have two seasons where you go seven and nine
and that that's it, man, that's your down seat. That's
your down cycle in a in a fifty five year period.
So it is remarkable what they've been able to do,
and remarkable the legacy, and remarkable that here you are,
you know what, eight nine years into the Hall of
(18:35):
Honor and this is your class. Penn Roethlisberger, Marquis Pouncy
and Joey Porter. That's amazing. That's the first class for
so many organizations, and there's a lot of organizations that
wouldn't have players of that caliber in their first class.
So amazing stuff. We'll talk a little bit more about it.
Of course, we want to talk about the Steelers as well.
(18:57):
You're listening to the Locker Room with King and Starks,
presented Byrighborhood Ford Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Iheartradios. Live coverage of about twenty twenty five Steelers training
camp is presented by FedEx where Now meets Next and
also brought to you by CGR Wholesale Roofing and Siding
Supply Center by Ton's appliances by Always Safe Flagging and
Traffic Control by Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, by Schneider Downs,
(19:30):
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by Castle Rock, by clear View Federal Credit U and
by US steel.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
And welcome back inside the locker room with King Starts
presented by your neighborhood Fords Store. Here on the Steelers
Audio network, Max Starts is in Latrobe overseeing the fields there.
Overlooking the fields at Chucknol Stadium. I'm assuming that players
not quite out yet.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Max? Is that correct? U date there are no players
currently on the field nor trying to traverse two said field,
but the fields crew is out there. I see young
Zach uh drawing diagonal lines to create a pseudo coaches
box area on the sidelines. Uh Rick is Rick is
(20:20):
filling in some uh some some dirt and sand. There
we see the rest of the crew. I actually saw
one guy massaging seeds into the soil. Im I kid
you not, rob massaging seeds into the into the into
the ground like that was pretty pretty pretty Uh well,
I would say, what would you say? Uh, what would
(20:42):
you say? West very well dedicated.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Well, dedicated, well, I don't know, dedicated.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Determined, determined, insistent, being conscientious very much, so thank you
for that. They're being very pedantic. Oh that's a good
that's a good set word right there. Somebody studied the
night before, love it, love it love. But yeah, so
we have the grounds crew out here and they're working
(21:09):
on field one. Let me be more specific, working on
field one, because obviously that is the field that gets
the work, That is the field that everybody comes and
kind of encapsulates here up in La Trob at Saint
Vincent's College. So you know, you want to make that
you want to put your best side forward.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Well, you know, we have ninety men, all of them
large with cleats, running around in your lawn. After it's rained,
it's probably gonna get chewed up. I don't know if
there's anything you can do about that. It's going to
take some day.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
And with the amount of like weather that we've had
right right, it's wet, Yeah, it's wet. It's gonna yesterday.
I mean you were sitting here, I mean just the
like sheets of rain that poured down for like, you know,
for like an hour right on there, and luckily they
went to the turf field yesterday for their their walk
through practice which was which was of course to give
(22:03):
the grounds crew time to kind of deal with it
because you know, it's not something where they've needed to
tarp it yet. I think I don't think we've gotten
to the tarp phase yet with the with the rainstorms.
We did have a couple of those last year. You know,
Wolf and I were literally commentating the tarp rowing skills
of of the ball boys involved because it is a
(22:24):
show trying to get all of the field like covered
and then of course when they do remove the field.
But we haven't had to have we haven't had to
see any of those type of situations just yet. But
it is something that you know, the grounds crew is excellent.
They take that. I mean, they take this job very
seriously doing all of the lines that they're gonna do
(22:46):
because you can see the lines are kind of faded
from our angle up here, Rob, but you know they're
they're gonna this whole field. One is going to be
repainted before the end of this show, and it's a
lot of a lot of painted do. But I mean,
they're so good at what they do, and they take
their job so seriously, the irrigation here is just wonderful. Now, yep,
(23:08):
so it's gonna be a fun thing to watch. I
know fans are like, we don't care, But this is
what gets the product on the field, right, This is
what Keepsky's healthy and prevents injuries. Is the maintenance of
the ground, of the grounds and so the grounds crew,
you know, although they all get a lot of attention,
I mean, they're a very integral part of it. They
don't care.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
They don't care until a field gets chewed up and
the commentators talk about it, and now you're getting criticized,
and now you can right now you're fan, and now
you care. So no, I think those guys are unsung heroes.
And like you said, they're out there. You know, the
teams in their meetings, and these guys are out there.
These the players are going to their meetings. These guys
(23:49):
are going out to the field when the practice is over,
and the players are going back out to their post
practice meetings and dinner. The ground screws out there making
sure that the field is gonna be in perfect condition
for so all part of the well oiled machine at
Saint Vincent College. You know, Max I wanted to. You know,
the Hall of Honor is such a special thing. It
only happens, yeah, once a year. I did want to
(24:11):
ask you and delve into it just a little bit
further here. I will ask you if you remember we
were in our old building in an Alleghany Center, and
I believe it was was Stan Savereign still head sports beak.
I believe a guy was gone by then, so it
(24:31):
was just Stan hosting the show. And I know you
and Ben came in. I think you guys came in
in the same day.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Is that? Do you remember that Ben and I arrived
to Pittsburgh International at I mean, it felt like almost
the same exact time. I felt like we both like
descended the escalator down the baggage claim together and uh
and we were and we rode strictly. We rode straight
from the airport, straight to straight to uh, you know,
(25:02):
the north side to the Fson Pittsburgh right it was
Epson Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh building, and went straight on the
stands show. So and now was like the whole ride
was hey man, I'm Max. Hey Ben, you know it
was it was like we had to get to know
each other because we had never met. We were drafted
together like the week before, and we were coming in
(25:24):
right before mandatory rookie minicamp or mandatory mini camp was
no rookie in vets. It was just all one and
we literally came in the same day and we went
straight there before we went to the facility, and that
that's where we first got to know each other, was
on that car ride from the airport. That's cool to
stand studio.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
So yeah, in fact, I think, as I recall again,
now this is a long time ago, I believe that
for some reason, Ben walked in first and you walked
in second, or maybe the other way around, just separated
by a little bit. I don't know, if somebody had
to use the restroom maybe or something. I remember, look
at what I had to use the restaurant.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Okay, there you go. So so you're remembering this very well.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
For this is because I remember I saw because I
remember I saw Ben first and I thought that's a quarterback.
I mean, he was so wide. My first thought on him.
You know, he's a physically large man. He is big Ben.
He's what six five six four six five.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Yeah, like six four and a half. Yeah, yeah, AND's
plit the difference.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
I thought, this guy could easily easily be three hundred
pounds and have his hand in the dirt easily. That's
I mean, that's how big he is. He and I
was like, oh, my gosh, I cannot believe that's a quarterback.
Then by the way, Max came in and I was like, oh, whoa,
you know, because you got that guy. Now, this is
(26:55):
what a guy with his hand in the dirt actually
looks like, you know, at six seven, six eight success.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Uh, And I just remember, you know, just I remember
that procession being stunned at how big Ben was. And
like I said, I mean I don't know what Ben
played at maybe two fifty or thereabouts, but seriously, I mean,
if if you if he lived under a bench press rack,
he has that kind of frame. I mean, he's he
(27:23):
just has a large frame. And by the way, for
those people out there you know that, uh maybe don't
understand this to some degree. You know, Max was an
outstanding basketball player. Could have played college basketball. Ben Roethlisberger,
you know it was involved in a few pickup games
(27:44):
with him. He's definitely a guy that could have played, uh,
could have played basketball in college golfer.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Now, yeah, baseballs were really good to ca. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
And and you know, I played in one of the
I played in one of the Steelers charity basketball games.
It was difficult for me to play because usually, you know,
I had a hockey game or something and B. E.
Taylor had a group together and I played one game
with him, and I just remember, and I was much
(28:15):
younger in those days. I mean still you know, in
my forties, but you know, not not put out the
pasture yet. And I just remember I think it was
Chris Hoke uh. And I'm not gonna say Hokey was
a was a great hoops player, but he came down
the middle and I was I was like.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Oh my gosh, can he really move that fast?
Speaker 3 (28:36):
And that's Chris Hoke who's not probably at the front
of the line when it came to the sprint drills,
uh in practice. So just so you guys know that
are listening out there, how incredible the athletes are.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
And it's not just about you know, you see.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Ben out there and he's shaking guys off and moving
around and doing things, and you don't do that unless
you're a great athlete. But so that so I just
I wanted to make sure I remembered that first day
that I the first day I ever met you, the
first day I ever saw you. Yeah, I did not
know you had just come in from the airport with Ben.
But you know, from that moment on, you got a
(29:13):
front row seat for a good portion of Ben Roethlisberger's
career and you know, obviously a Canton type of career.
And you know, the the in the early progression, and
I remember talking, I think it was Jeff Harding saying,
you know, like first practice, you're like, whoa, look at
the arm Strengthen this guy, Holy mackerel.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
You know, so that's our fourth string, that's our fourth
stringer because he was taking he was taking remember he
was taking reps with the fours. Wow. Because you had
Tommy Maddox yep, you had Charlie Batch, and you had
Brian Saint Pierre. Yeah, then Ben was Ben was a
fourth quarterback on the depth chart when when we initially
(29:57):
got to uh to train it to mini camp.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Right, which you wasn't gonna last long. You don't take
a guy, you don't take a first stelt. You gotta
go through the process, right, got it?
Speaker 1 (30:07):
And the reason why he jumped up was because process
of elimination, right, because Charlie Charlie injures his collar bone, right,
So then he becomes a third string quarterback. Then Bryan
Saint Pierre gets injured, and then Ben gets thrust into
the number two spot right behind Tommy, and then Tommy
goes out the second game of the season in Baltimore
(30:28):
at the end of that first half, and Ben that's
how Ben gets to the starting job, you know, at
the end of week two, it almost brings us back
against Baltimore, and then of course assumes the mantle in
week three and then eighteen years later.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Yeah, I mean, just an incredible career for Ben Roethlisberger.
Obviously you witnessed it, Fans witnessed it, fans get to
see it up close. But as his teammate, what was
it like to witness him because you know, we'll forget,
you know, and Ben, after that first year, you know,
(31:04):
was handing the ball off a lot, and and you know,
I think great players want to show that they're great players,
and they they chaf a little bit at the idea
that they're being restrained. And I remember Ben wanted to
he wanted to open up the offense more. And I'm
pretty sure it was his second or third year he
led the league at interceptions. So it wasn't It's easy
(31:24):
to look back now and say, oh it was. You know,
you started at the bottom left in the graph and
moved up to the top right in the graph.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I mean there were some there were some bumps along
the road.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
But what was it like to witness that, you know,
the beginning and then and then seeing him develop into
that Hall of Fame quarterback.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
I mean, you know, you hit it king. I mean
I played with Ben exactly half of his career, right
his first nine years we were together. I was his
locker mate also for those first nine years, Like we were,
we were literally right next to each other from the beginning,
and you know, we we were young men learning how
(32:03):
to be grown men, and I think that was the
biggest thing. And you know, we just we went out,
We just had fun. We wanted We love to compete,
and nobody loved to compete more than Ben Roethlisberg. I
will say of my teammates, like Ben was the most
consistently competitive human being I've ever been around at that point,
(32:27):
because I played with some good quarterbacks in college, right.
You know, so I wasn't a stranger to seeing a
guy who was gifted and skilled and had the traits
to be a starter, Like I had Jesse Palmer as
my quarterback in college and Rex Grossman, right, and so
I so I was used to the talent at the position.
But Ben was on a whole other stratosphere. And you know,
(32:48):
you talked about those first years we had to get
comfortable with what he could and couldn't do, and you
know it was a feeling out period with Ken wizen
Hunt and uh and we were we were a run
heavy team because you got Jerome Bettison Duce Staley in
the backfield, right, I mean, how do you not I
mean Jerome Bettis, you know, goes down number two all time,
(33:10):
you know, in a lot of stats and categories. And
it was him and Curtis Martin in our era because
obviously EMMITTT. Smith had just eclipsed and broke and created
all the brand new records. But I mean, you know,
for Jerome to be back there, and you knew it
was cowards the end of Jerome's career, right, we had
two years with Jerome. He wanted to make sure you
utilize those things. I mean, nobody would argue that that
(33:32):
that Chicago game in O five, you know, you're talking
about a quintessential, you know, historic type of game for
Jerome Bettis where you're like, ah, does he still have
it or not? So you know, we went through that
early process where were trying to figure out, well, what's
the right balance for Ben and and you know, then
you saw the maturation, right you saw him grow, You
(33:55):
saw the playbook unlock more and more, and then it culminates.
I feel like the moment when we knew Ben was
was Ben, Ben was Super Bowl forty three, you know,
and the drive at the end of the game, the
play to Santonio which we could have scored on the
(34:16):
play before because Been put it in a perfect place
and Santonio kind of kind of rounded off the route
a little bit short. We get back, he's like, he's like,
we're running the same thing to the right. He's like,
he's like, don't round the route. You know. But at
that point, I mean, you saw the drive. It was dark,
dart dart dart dart down the field.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Didn't he sorry to interrupt you, didn't he have like
a long run on like a second and twenty five
on that drive or something else.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Well, yeah, he had penalty first play of the drive.
As I recalled, there was a penalty. And we don't
want to talk about that. We would not to talk
about that one. That's still a sore subject in our
offensive line room, even in our group chat. It's still
a sore subject all these years later. Uh. But but
you know, it was it was that. It was that
willingness and that drive. And that's the one thing you
could say over Ben's career, like Ben wanted the ball
(35:08):
in his hands. You know, you talk about certain people
like throughout history, like Mario Lemieux, right, he wanted to
puck in his hands at the you know, on his
stick at the end of the game. Wayne Gretzky, you know,
Michael Jordan, a guy, Kobe like, they wanted the ball
in the Martinez. I wouldn't go that far, but yes,
Game seven, Pedro come, come.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
But you know, and I'm glad you mentioned that because again,
the athleticism, the competitiveness, you know people you know, sometimes
fans will say, oh, you know, and and some guys
and teammates will be critical of a guy's work ethic.
So first of all, just just understand that the bottom
line work ethic of a professional football player would have
(35:52):
most almost every other human crying for their mommy, right,
I mean, and then beyond that is where the competitiveness
and the al dogs among the alpha dogs, because everybody
in the NFL man, they're an alpha dog. And then
there's alpha dogs within. You know, if you took all
the alpha dogs in the role of the put him
in a and put him in a pack, some of
those alpha dogs within the alpha dogs are gonna rise above.
(36:13):
That's what the NFL is. That's what Ben Roethlisberger was,
you know to be. The other thing too, is that
you know some guys have you know, singular styles, right,
you know, Mike Vick, you knew what he was gonna do.
Fran Tarkenton had a style. Even Tom Brady had a style.
Ben had a unique style, you know he did. And
I think that that's a that's a wonderful thing to
(36:33):
have as a as a player. Is the the style
of play that he had, which we could talk about.
We can't talk about now because we have to take
a break.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
But but we could talk for a long time. Oh,
we could talk about a lot.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
You're in the locker Room with King and Starks, presented
by your neighborhood fordsho are here on this two there's
audio network.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
iHeart Radios live coverage. I'm about twenty twenty five Steelers
training Camp. He's presented by FedEx Where now meets next
and also brought to you by bud Light, Independence Health
System by Pennsylvania One Call System, by Live Casino, Calciente
Pizza and Draft House by Tom's Appliances, South Hills Auto,
(37:16):
Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau, We Max Select Realty, the Pittsburgh
Steelers Pro Shop and by US Steel.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
And we welcome you back to the locker Room with
King and Starks, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store. Here
on this too, there's audio network as we spend just
a couple more minutes looking back at the Hall of
Honor class with Max Starks, who has intimate knowledge of
all three guys. Just talked a little bit about Ben Roethlisberger.
You played the shortest period of time with Joey Porter
(37:47):
was just a year back that you played with No
No No.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
I had Joey for I had Joey for four years wow.
And I was with Pounds for three years. Okay, so
pounds would be the shortest by by a year between
him and him and Joey.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
Mine forgets some of those years, by the way, but
I did remember that appearance with at Savagage.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Amaze what you remember forget? Max? Anyway? Yeah, Regard, Hey,
that was great recall for it. I mean you're talking
about twenty one years ago. Uh yeah, Cager, and you
had you had you had that dial down to to
who went to the bathroom? You know what I'm saying, Like,
I mean that that's not just good, that's that's pretty
that's pretty darn great. You don't have to worry about
taking fish oil pills anytime soon. Thank you, Memory, Thank you.
(38:33):
It's still taking him though, Uh, just in case, and
and the mushroom powder.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
In my coffee if you haven't gone there yet, Max,
little little Lion's man, little Charga.
Speaker 1 (38:41):
That's exactly right. Oh absolutely, yeah, no, I got I
got all the tricks of the trade too. Yeah, I
swear that's work. But who knows, uh could listen or not?
Doesn't match exactly, could be that Cabo is exactly right.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
So I did want to you know, I mentioned this
yesterday during the show and I remember it was a
couple of years ago, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Smith
was inducted into the Hall of Honor, and I was
interviewing him and asking him about guys that I thought
might get into the future, including Joey Porter, and he
described him as by far the best teammate he's ever had.
(39:18):
I was like, WHOA, that's saying something. And you just
talked about, you know, what a great teammate Aaron Smith
was a couple of days ago and we're talking about
the defensive line and and you know, various positions guys
could play, and how Aaron could have played really all
along the defensive line. High praise for Joey Porter, and
he said, look, you just knew that Joey Porter always
(39:39):
had your back. You know, we see the emotional leader
and the yelling and all that other stuff. But you know,
he felt like and Joey kind of said that too,
like you know, that's he kind of felt like that
was his role. We know what a great player he was,
and you never can tell on the outside when a
guy is just you know, and I'm not saying this
is Joey, but you think about other athletes sometimes somebody
(40:01):
calls attention to themselves, Well are they being a leader?
Speaker 1 (40:04):
They just being crass? Who knows?
Speaker 3 (40:06):
What's important is what the guy somebody's teammates feel. It
doesn't matter what the media feels, doesn't matter what the
fans feel. How do your teammates feel about you? I
thought that was really high praise from Aaron Smith about
Joey Porter, because we know he was a great football player.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
No, absolutely, I mean, and you're talking about the skills.
I mean, you know this is a guy who is
an All Pro, who was a multiple Pro bowler, and
a guy who struck fear in opponents and you needed
that face. You know that quote unquote villain so to speak.
And I you know, I use that term very loosely,
(40:44):
right because I mean you also have a guy who
picked up the mantle as soon as Joey left, and
James Harrison and a guy who embraced that role as well. Yeah,
every good wrestler needs a heel, right right, And you
need to have that heel because the heel drum up
the emotional value. You know, that catalyst so to speak.
(41:05):
For a lot of things. You have the good catalyst,
and then of course you have the bad catalyst. But
at the end of this, it's all combustion, right, It's
all about creating that fuel. And you know there's no
bad fuel, right. You know, when you're when you're trying
to keep a fire pit open, you're grabbing anything necessary,
whether it's grass, whether it's wood, or whether it's you know,
(41:26):
or or or it's just straight lighter fluid. You know,
you pour that in there. I mean, just ask a
couple of uncles on a Saturday in front of a grill, right,
you know, everybody loves some good some good lighter fluid,
never have too much charcoal. But that's what he was.
He was the lighter fluid on the grill. And you
know for us, you know, just like just like you
know Aaron Smith said, right, you knew he had your back,
(41:49):
and you knew you had to back his play as well.
Like he's like, hey, guys, if I'm gonna go out
here and sell it, I need you guys to make
sure that you have my back because I'm gonna have yours.
And it didn't matter. It wasn't just a defensive thing.
And I think that's the other thing when we're talking
about like look at historically, like at that era, at
those teams, right, we all were one and I think
(42:12):
that's something. And that's why I said. We were just
young and we just love to compete. And you know,
I was having this conversation, you know, last night, we
were sitting up top under the tent up top there
where we normally film the TV show or the Steelers
training Camp live show. You know, I was sitting there
with Troy and Ike and we were just you know,
we're just we're just hanging out, right, you know, we're
(42:33):
just hanging out, just talking, and it was and we
were talking about you know, we got to asked the question, Hey,
what made y'all's ara so special? And you know the
answer was, I mean we played for each other like
we like we were one team. I know. Yeah, you
have the yellow jerseys on one side, and you know,
as as I'm watching the players kind of ascend the
field for here for walkthrough, obviously trying to take care
(42:56):
of the grass fields, they're gonna do their walk through
on the artificial field. But yeah, you had white and
yellow when it came to practice. But we were all
Steelers when we got in that locker room and when
we left the facility, and if one guy was out,
all of us was out. You know, if one guy
was in a place, all of us were gonna eventually
make it to that place. And it wasn't oh, where's
(43:18):
the offensive guy going, or where's the defensive guy going,
or where's the offensive line going. It wasn't It wasn't
position groups, it wasn't sides of the ball. We supported
each other, you know. I was just apt to go
hang with Charlie Batch, as I was with Alan Fanica,
as I was with Casey Hampton, Ryan Clark, when Ryan
(43:39):
got here, you know Troy, you know, we always knew
there was one night a year we could always pull
Troy out and he'd go have a couple glasses of
wine out with us. You know, I mean, everybody just
hung and if we had a charity event, all of
us showed up to each other's charity event to support
each other. You know, I can't tell you, you know,
I mean I had darn near the whole team. When
I did this program with UPMC the Rehab Institute with
(44:01):
my wife, it's called Gridiron Gaming, where we did adaptive
gaming with patients, and almost my whole team showed up.
You know, and we were in the like this little
small like spot like inside of UPMC and we're in
one of the hospitals, and it was it was like
standing room over. It was so tight. Then the next
(44:21):
year we actually moved it to the to the club
at the stadium because it was just so big. We
had so many people. But I mean, but that and
that's the love, right, I mean that that's what really
matters when you think about like going back and thinking
of the history of us, Like, we have so many
things that we did on the field as a group
that are memorable, you know, the moments. You know, you
(44:41):
think of interceptions, touchdown drives, big plays, But we had
all of that off the field as well, with the
impact for each other and the care and we truly
loved each other.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
You know.
Speaker 1 (44:53):
I could go hang with Jeff Reid just as easily
as I could go hang with James Ferrier, and we
we all went to everything together. I think that's what
that's what kind of made it special, is that we
just all were one. We were just a milane of bodies.
And you know, Troy told a story because we were
talking about just how tough camp was, about how coach
Cower used to start training camp with, uh, you know,
(45:14):
every practice morning and afternoon with goal line droe, which
now has kind of evolved under Mike Tomlin has seven shots,
like that's the competitive right, We're going to be physical
to the whistle type of plays. But I remember one
we talked about one year. We put Big Hamp at
full back right and and Big Hamp you know, was
(45:35):
lining up against against his boys right on defense. But
Troy was like, he's like, yeah, once Hamp went to
that other side, it was like, yeah, we love you, Hamp,
but we're we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna have to
beat you up. I'll never forget. This is the very
first play and this and to one of our and
we're talking about our tough tevs and kind of the
depth we had back then. Clint Kreewall was in at
(45:57):
the inside backer and Clint's assignment was the fullback. Didn't
matter who the fullback was, it was the fullback. And
that's ultimately you know what happened. I mean, Clint came
in and Clint and Hamp are very two different size differentials,
and you know, linebackers back then, they didn't cut tackle
(46:18):
linebackers for the Steelers hit you head up, and that
was one of the things that was just a staple
on what you did. Like Jack Lambert was not going
to cut tackle you, right, you know, Jack ham Andy Russell.
They're not cut tackling. They're coming straight to go through
your chest. And it's like the best way to build
a tunnel is to go through the mountain, right, That's
how they always thought. And so Clint went right through
(46:41):
a big hamp and stood hamp up. But that was
also the very last play of Clint Kreewalk's career after that,
but he had to pay. He was on the other
side of the ball. And that's how competitive we were.
We did not want each other to succeed on the
practice field, right, they had whatever we had to do
to make to make us better than you. That was
(47:03):
the true iron sharpens iron type of moment. And so
we're just talking about like those type of moments. I mean,
we sat up, you know, almost all night. It felt
like just sharing stories and just kind of just talking.
I mean, and that's the other thing that makes it fun.
We have a lot of memories to lean off of
each other, and that's what you build here at training camp,
you build those memories. And that's why I don't take
(47:24):
any of these things for granted. And when we're talking
about the evaluation process, I want to see how guys
blend and how they melt. I want to see for sure,
not only what you do on the field, but what
do you do in the locker room. What are you
doing up up in the up up in the dorms, Like,
how are you guys hanging like in the off hours? No,
because all of that matters in team bonding and really
making a special team. Uh. When you're talking about those
(47:47):
really good teams and then those exceptional teams, those super
Bowl caliber teams, it comes down to chemistry, no doubt
about it.
Speaker 3 (47:53):
And that's very unique, and so is Max Stark's always.
Uh love talking to my friend. I know next hour
you got Wes Euler with you, and then no show
tomorrow because no practice. So I will talk with you
and see you hopefully, uh Lord Willing in person on
Tuesday morning in the trobe.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
Hey, you got you got, Hey, you're you're you're pulling
your Jamaican right now. You got you got, you got
turteen jobs? Yes you gotta go.
Speaker 3 (48:19):
Uh, I'm gonna go do a little pirate baseball here.
By the way, we're celebrating uh Dave Parker getting into
the Hall of Fame. Oh man, that's way, way, way
overdue for him. And by the way, for Dick Allen,
who's from Wampam just a little bit uh north of
the city, another guy that should in my opinion, both
those guys should have been in the Hall of Fame
(48:39):
years ago.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
So I'm glad they're both going in.
Speaker 3 (48:42):
But of course Dave Parker being a pirate, we're celebrating
the Cobra, so I'm part of that and part of
the celebration all weekend on Dave Parker getting into the
Hall of Fame. Up next, it is going to be
Max Starks and Wes Euler as we continue with the
locker room with King and Starks, presented by your neighborhood
Ford Store.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Here on this steer, there's Audio Network
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