A lot has been unfolding around the Pittsburgh Steelers lately. And surprisingly, none of it involves the current roster. The noise has centered on former players instead. At the heart of it are Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison, both of whom took subtle shots at Mike Tomlin’s coaching during the 2025 season. That prompted Joey Porter Sr. to respond, labeling Roethlisberger a “bad teammate.” Now, Harrison has addressed the backlash, acknowledging that he believes Roethlisberger was, in fact, a good teammate.

“Me personally, I do not think Ben is a bad teammate,” Harrison said. “Because I have a good relationship with Ben, and I can say this because I talked to Ben…But Seven could be an a**hole. That’s facts. And when Ben came in, this man went 13-none as a rookie. The team was 15-1. His second season? He won a Super Bowl. He became the youngest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl…But over time, he has matured and grown up. And you don’t value the same things you did at 23 that you do at 30.”

While Harrison acknowledged Roethlisberger as a good teammate, he didn’t feel shy about pointing out personality flaws in strong language. His comments came against the backdrop of on-going verbal rivalry between Porter Sr. and Roethlisberger and Harrison.

It all went down when both Roethlisberger and Harrison went against Tomlin, considering the Steelers haven’t been able to win a postseason game for the past decade. As that happened, Porter called out both of them for breaking the brotherhood, while especially targeting Big Ben as a “bad teammate.”

“The s*** that [Roethlisberger] do that we don’t talk about is crazy. Out of anybody that talk, he should never grab a microphone and talk Steelers business,” Porter said last week. “Because if we talking Steelers business, his a** is foul of all foul. The s*** that he did is foul of all foul. He’s not a good teammate. Won a Super Bowl with him, But the person? He’s just not a good teammate. He knows that. Anybody in the Steeler building knows that. I’ve only won one Super Bowl and that was my quarterback. So do I love my quarterback? Yeah. But is he a good person? No.”

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Porter shared a locker room with Roethlisberger for eight seasons: three as a player from 2004–06 and five more as an assistant coach from 2014–18. The only specific examples he cited were from Roethlisberger’s rookie year: he claimed the quarterback refused to sign autographs for teammates seeking signatures for family members and noted a lack of confidence in Big Ben’s offensive captaincy.

And as that went down, reactions followed. And right at the front was the former Steelers guard, David DeCastro.

“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. I guess, negativity seems to sell these days, but I loved playing with Ben, for Ben, protecting him,” DeCastro said, per Mark Kaboly.

Still, friction between the Porter and Big Ben isn’t new. It dates back to their playing days from 2004–06. In 2006, after the Steelers opened their title defense with a win before losing three straight, a team meeting reportedly turned tense.

Porter allegedly stood up and confronted Roethlisberger for arriving last and leaving first, questioning his commitment and suggesting he was distancing himself from teammates. Former running back Najeh Davenport later described it as a direct challenge to the quarterback’s leadership.

But fast forward to now, and things have taken a sharper turn. Only this time, Porter criticized both Roethlisberger and Harrison for using their podcast platforms to discuss internal Steelers matters, particularly their critiques of Tomlin. Notably, Roethlisberger became the youngest Super Bowl-winning quarterback under Tomlin’s leadership.

As for Harrison, his early years under Bill Cowher offered limited opportunity. And it was Tomlin who gave Porter the opportunity. And when he criticized Tomlin this past season, Porter took a jab at his former teammate, something that Harrison now has addressed.

James Harrison pushed back against Joey Porter Sr.’s comments

Throughout the 2025 season, James Harrison made it clear he’s one of Mike Tomlin’s most vocal critics. That didn’t sit well with Joey Porter Sr. The Steelers legend pushed back, arguing that Harrison was taking shots at the very coach who gave him his opportunity in Pittsburgh. Now, Harrison has responded to those claims.

“He (Porter) said I should be more loyal to him (Tomlin) because my name Deebo, I had three, four Pro Bowls, Defensive Player of the Year,” Harrison said. “So when you say these things, it implies that he gave me it. First, he didn’t give me the name Deebo, Brett Keisel gave me the name Deebo. He didn’t make me the only undrafted player to ever win Defensive Player of the Year and get paid $50 million. Again, implying that it was give to me undeservedly. It wasn’t.”

Even so, the timeline adds context. Under Bill Cowher, Harrison struggled to secure consistent starting opportunities during his first four seasons. When Cowher departed, and Tomlin stepped in, the decision was made to move forward with Harrison over Porter.

If the Steelers had retained Porter in 2007, Harrison’s path to another Super Bowl, five Pro Bowls, and the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year award likely looks different. Still, this back-and-forth doesn’t appear close to ending. Just last week, Porter publicly criticized both Harrison and Big Ben.

This week, Harrison answered those accusations directly while also clarifying his stance on his former quarterback. As for Big Ben, he hasn’t weighed in yet. With another episode of his Footbahlin podcast on the horizon on Tuesday, the question now is whether he chooses to address Porter head-on.