By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
They say you should never look back because someone might be gaining on you. But that hasn't stopped Joey Porter. He knows exactly who is in his rear-view mirror in the NFL sacks race.
1. Porter, Miami Dolphins, 10 1/2. ... 2. DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys, 9. ... 3. James Harrison, Steelers, 8 1/2. ... 4. LaMarr Woodley, Steelers, 7 1/2.
"Those Pittsburgh guys, they're coming on every play," Porter was saying over the telephone last week. "Good for them. I begged them to let me do that when I was there. They wouldn't turn me loose."
You should have heard Steelers linebacker James Farrior laugh when he heard that.
"Yeah, he begged. He and Clark [Haggans] both begged," Farrior said. "They're so mad right now. [Harrison and Woodley] aren't coming on every play, but they're rushing a lot more than those guys did."
Doug Benc/Getty Images
Linebacker Joey Porter -- #55 of the Miami Dolphins
Actually, Porter isn't mad at all. I can't speak for Haggans, who moved on to the Arizona Cardinals after last season and has one sack, but there's absolutely nothing wrong in Porter's world. Not when his Dolphins are 3-4 with a game in Denver today after going 1-15 last season. Not when he's on pace to break the NFL sacks record set in 2001 by the New York Giants' Michael Strahan ( 22 1/2.) And not when he's showing a lot of people -- including those in Steelers management -- that he still has a little something left on the football field at 31.
"What are they saying about me up there now?" Porter asked.
"Last year, everybody said Pittsburgh was smart for letting me go, that I was done.
"What are they saying about me now?"
They're too happy with Harrison, Woodley and the Steelers' 5-2 record to pay much attention to what's happening in Miami. But that doesn't change the fact Porter is having a tremendous season, good enough for him to get NFL Defensive Player of the Year consideration if he keeps it up.
"I'm so happy for him. It means the world to him to prove to everybody that he isn't fading away," said Farrior, who talks with Porter every week and described him as "real fired up."
This season is especially satisfying for Porter because of the abuse he took last year in South Florida. The Dolphins brought him in after the '06 season and gave him big money -- a $12 million signing bonus and $20 million guaranteed -- after the Steelers released him, deciding he wasn't worth the $5 million he was supposed to make with them in '07. That made him an easy target when the Dolphins lost, especially when he had just 5 1/2 sacks.
"Sure, it hurt. It's gotta hurt," Porter said of the criticism. "But what could I do? There was nothing I could do to make it right. It's not as if I could go outside the defense and just do my thing so I could prove everybody wrong. I had to play my role. That [4-3] defense wasn't designed for me to get sacks. I could have been 23 and it would have been the same thing. The defense was designed for Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas to make plays. That was cool. They made plays. It was what it was."
Bill Parcells came in late last season to run the Dolphins' football operations. "He revamped everything," Porter said. "I like the direction we're going."
Tony Sparano was hired as coach and Paul Pasqualoni as defensive coordinator. They installed a 3-4 defense, which better suits Porter as an outside linebacker.
For his part, Porter trained harder in the offseason than he ever had, adding 10 pounds of muscle. He's 6-foot-3, 260.
"People look at me and say, 'You look a little faster. What happened?' " Porter said. "We had a system change, that's what happened.
"They've got me in a good position right now. There's no holding me back. They're giving me freedom to do what I do best."
Porter was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month for October. He had two sacks and forced a fumble that resulted in a safety last Sunday in a win against Buffalo. He had two sacks the week before against Baltimore. He had four sacks and a forced fumble in a win against New England Sept. 21.
"I ain't stopping now," Porter told the Miami media last week. "It ain't like I'm going to turn my motor off -- 'I've got 10 [sacks]. I've done my job.' Nah."
Porter wouldn't be Porter if he didn't say something that makes you shake your head and say what the heck ...
So it was in our telephone conversation when he suggested the Steelers intentionally held down his sack total in '06 by having him drop into pass coverage more often because he was playing for a new contract.
"I'm serious," Porter said. "They won't let you get too crazy when you're in your money year. They have ways of slowing you down."
Hey, that's Porter's story and he's sticking to it.
It doesn't matter now. What matters is that Porter has found happiness in Miami. He openly longed last season for his old Steelers pals, Farrior and nose tackle Casey Hampton among them. But he's past that even if he still follows the Steelers closely.
Especially Harrison and Woodley, of course.
"The Steelers have moved on and I've moved on," Porter said. "I love it down here. I love these guys. They're my brothers now.
"One day, I'll be able to say that I was here when we were bad. And I'll definitely be here when we get really good."
Those 10 1/2 sacks are proof the man just might last that long.
Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.
First published on November 2, 2008 at 12:01 am
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