Hostile rivalry continues Sunday

By ED BOUCHETTE

Mutual hate would best describe the Steelers and Ravens series.

Not once but twice Tuesday coach Mike Tomlin referred to the division rivalry between the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens as one based on “mutual respect.”

Where has he been the past dozen years?

Mutual hate would more aptly describe the annual two-game series between these franchises since the Ravens moved to Baltimore from Cleveland in 1996, a carryover from the old Browns-Steelers game. As Steelers receiver Hines Ward once said, “The coaches hate each other, the players hate each other.”

Respect? Tell that to a wounded Joey Porter, who challenged Ray Lewis to step off the Ravens’ team bus at Heinz Field after he felt the Baltimore linebacker, mocking his “boot,” made fun of him being shot outside a Denver bar in 2003.

Respect? Ben Roethlisberger probably does not think that’s what Bart Scott was paying him when the Ravens’ linebacker slammed into him in 2006 then later described the hit thusly to Sports Illustrated: “I heard him make this ‘ungh’ sound, like air rushing out. I jumped up and did my bird dance, then looked back and saw Ben was still down, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I knocked him out of the game.’ ”

Nor could Ward feel much respect when Scott threatened to “kill” him after Ward had the audacity to block the linebacker last year.

“I threatened him,” Scott said. “If I see him again, I’m going to threaten him again.”

That’s OK, because Ward has been threatened by the best of them, including former Steeler Rod Woodson when the receiver drew the safety’s ire by — what else? — blocking him.

Respect? Tell that to Baltimore’s Todd Heap when in 2004, as the obviously injured tight end limped to the line so his quarterback could spike the ball and kill the clock, he was knocked to the ground by Porter. Even Steelers coach Bill Cowher admonished Porter for that one.

Explain to Ward the respect that Terrell Suggs paid him when he said on a national radio show this year that he and some others on the Ravens’ defense placed bounties on him and rookie Rashard Mendenhall. Said Suggs, “Hines Ward is definitely a dirty player, a cheap-shot artist.”

Then tell Mendenhall about the respect Lewis had for him when, after he broke his shoulder with a clean hit in the third game this season, the Ravens’ great linebacker exulted. Lewis later admitted that “I wasn’t screaming, ‘He’s hurt,’ I was screaming, ‘He’s done!’ ”

Ahh, if this series had no mutual respect, it would have nothing at all.

Here was how Tomlin described the rivalry:

“I know that this is a big-time football game for us. More than anything, it’s because they play football the way we play football. It’s a heated rivalry. I think it’s born out of mutual respect, or at least I can say that it’s born out of respect on our standpoint. We respect those guys.

“They’re a physically tough, mentally tough football team. Those are things that we honor and desire to be and in order to do that, you’ve got to line up and play these guys and play that style of game. I’m sure it’s going to be that style of game. I’d be shocked if it’s not.”

When the word “hostile” was mentioned about the environment the Steelers will face in Baltimore Sunday, Tomlin said, “A lot of colorful words could be used to describe it.

“I hope that the fans appreciate the level of mutual respect and I think that’s what makes this such a heated rivalry more than anything else is the desire to play the brand of football that both teams do. It’s great.”

It’s great and it’s hate, and that’s mutual.