Last week, a few Pittsburgh Steelers players were asked if the team still considers the Baltimore Ravens their main rival or if the Cincinnati Bengals have now surpassed them for that title. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, wide receiver Markus Wheaton and defensive end Stephon Tuitt both indicated that it’s still the Ravens. During a Friday interview on NFL No Huddle, the show’s co-host and former Steelers guard Willie Colon asked current Pittsburgh guard Ramon Foster to weigh-in on that very topic and he really explained his choice thoroughly.
“I think you’ve got to look at it in two different lights. I think the Bengals situation is a rivalry for non-football reasons,” said Foster. “You’ve played in this division and you know that the Baltimore-Pittsburgh game is just a game that you can’t really describe how physical it’s going to be, you just have to play in it and know what’s going on during the game.
“The Cincy-game is more talk than it is anything else. I think it’s being talked up more than it is on the field. Baltimore’s a lot of hard hitting. I mean just look at the history of it. The Cincy-game kind of escalated more because of the verbal stuff going back and forth. It will be fun for TV, but the real rivalry, in my opinion, is Baltimore.”
Later in the interview, Foster was asked to five his thoughts on Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict and cornerback Adam Jones and the actions of both players that took place last year late in the AFC Wild Card game.
“Before I start on any of that, those two guys are really good players, said Foster. “I will say that. They make plays on the field that if they didn’t have the baggage, they would be on the cover of every-single thing going on. I will say that. But the stuff that was going on, it wasn’t football and that’s why I say I can’t respect it as a rivalry more than anything, because you have a guy that’s, not one of those guys, but other dudes on that defense that’s saying stuff like, ‘I’ll see you in the offseason.’ Like, buddy, you really not about that life. You went to school, you played college ball, you maintained a good GPA for you to play college ball so you’re not gangster. The real gangsters are on the streets right now, you’re playing professional football and you don’t want to lose that.
“There was a lot of that going on and I was like, you’re going to see me and we’re just going to say, ‘Whats up?’ and we’re going to leave it at that. And that was some of the stuff that was going on on the field where it’s just like, this ain’t ball, this is just ya’ll wanting to be tough and we’ll see you again year after year.”
As for Colon, who if you remember already has a past with Burfict, he made it clear to Foster that he really doesn’t care for the Bengals linebacker.
“I do not like Vontaze Burfict,” said Colon, “I’ll be the first one to jump out there. I can’t stand the man. I think he’s a tough football player, but I think he’s a dirty football player. I’ve seen him time after time jump on guy’s legs, do things after the whistle. And I’m a chippy guy, I’ve always been a chippy guy and sometimes there’s a difference between setting a tone and hurting somebody and I think he’s always out to hurt somebody. You can give him my number, Ramon, so if you ever run into him, give him my number. And I train in Arizona, so you tell him I said, ‘What’s up?'”
So there you go, I think Foster really laid it out the best as to why the Ravens are still the Steelers main rival in the AFC North and why the Bengals just wish they had that title.
