>
> Intersting how this subject wasn't brought up here LOL....
>
>
> Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
>
> Steelers linebacker Joey Porter should have stuck with "Huckleberry."
>
> That's what he called Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr.
> after the teams played Nov. 19. It was not a term of endearment by any
> interpretation. But it was a thousand times better than what Porter
> called Winslow after Winslow took a cheap shot at Steelers linebacker
> James Farrior late in Steelers' 27-7 victory Thursday night.
>
> "I have no respect for that guy. He's a [slur]," Porter said into the
> television cameras, using an insulting term that describes a person's
> sexual orientation.
>
> "He's soft, man, he's soft."
>
> Even for Porter, that was way over the edge.
>
> He didn't just embarrass himself.
>
> He embarrassed the Steelers.
>
> Bill Cowher is expected to meet with Porter today to discuss exactly
> that when the players report back to work at the team's South Side
> headquarters. He called Porter's comments "inappropriate" during his
> weekly news conference yesterday.
>
> Porter is expected to apologize today or tomorrow when he meets with the
> local media, if not at Cowher's urging, then at his agents'. His
> representatives figure to go into full damage control mode over this.
> They have Porter's image to rescue. There are potential marketing
> opportunities at stake. Even the NFL's most-feared man -- as some have
> called Porter -- has to be careful about what lines he crosses.
>
> The NFL could weigh in later in the week with a fine for Porter. It
> should be a whopper.
>
> Forget that we live in a P.C. world. That's not the point here, although
> Porter's slur was just as offensive to a certain group of people as the
> use of the n-word would be to another group.
>
> This is more about business. Porter has made millions from the Steelers
> and the NFL. He, like any player, coach, team official or league
> official, has to realize who makes all that jack possible. People from
> every race, religion, ethnic background and sexual orientation buy NFL
> tickets and merchandise. It's pretty stupid to use a derogatory term
> that's insulting to any group.
>
> Actually, Porter used it twice the other night.
> Shame on him.
>
> This isn't the first time Porter and Winslow have had words. Before the
> first game in Cleveland this season, the two exchanged trash talk as the
> teams warmed up. "It was good. I need that. It got my rage going,"
> Porter said afterward. "I know I've got my Huckleberry now."
>
> Everyone laughed.
>
> Probably even Winslow.
>
> Winslow took a different approach with Porter last week. He tried to
> shake his hand before the game only to be rebuffed. Porter wanted
> nothing to do with him.
>
> Then, Winslow took a 15-yard personal foul penalty for knocking Farrior
> down after a fourth-quarter play, prompting outrage from many of the
> Steelers. Linebacker Larry Foote was among the most vocal, calling
> Winslow and the Browns "wannabes and never-will-bes." Porter just took
> it too far.
>
> Hardly anyone laughed this time.
>
> Certainly not Winslow.
>
> "If he wants to be a tough guy or whatever, that's fine," Winslow told
> the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "But that's a classless act. I see what type
> of guy he is now and just lost a little respect for him."
>
> In a sense, Porter is one of the Steelers' all-time most fascinating
> characters.
>
> There probably isn't a guy with a bigger heart on the team. That showed
> before the final regular-season game against the Detroit Lions last
> season when he organized a tribute to Steelers defensive coordinator
> Dick LeBeau and moved LeBeau to tears by having the players wear
> LeBeau's retro No. 44 Lions jersey to the game. "The last thing you want
> to do is let him down," Porter said of his enormous respect for LeBeau.
> It also showed before Super Bowl XL when he held back the other players
> so Jerome Bettis could lead the team on to the field in Detroit, his
> hometown. "I wanted the cameras to shine on him alone," Porter said.
>
> Those were amazing acts of kindness.
> But Porter has another side. He occasionally gets caught up in the
> macho, most-feared-man nonsense. His trash talking is usually more
> humorous than annoying. "Joey will talk about your mother. He'll get
> personal with you and say anything," Foote has said. But, occasionally,
> Porter loses his grip. It happened after a game against the Baltimore
> Ravens in 2003 when he chased Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis to the
> Ravens' team bus, presumably to fight. It also happened before a game in
> Cleveland in '04 when he was involved in a skirmish with Browns running
> back William Green and was ejected.
>
> Most regrettably, it happened last week.
> This was worst of all.
>