The premise of iron sharpens iron has come up quite a bit to open Pittsburgh Steelers training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. On Tuesday, the first day in pads, WR George Pickens and rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. had a chance to prove that with Pickens’ incredible, absurd catch over Porter. So naturally Porter was subject to a number of questions about the play and going against one of the best contested-catch receivers in the league, and the premise came up, according to a video from 93.7 The Fan sports director Jeff Hathhorn.
“It’s been great,” Porter said. “Iron sharpens iron. We had a good little one-on-one, caught some crazy good stuff down there. Don’t know how he caught it. It’s great. We’re always going to talk [smack], but we’re teammates at the end of the day. We’re just working.”
Despite the tempers flaring right after the catch, it’s obvious that Porter respects Pickens. The first practice in pads in the heat can lead to problems between teammates. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again. Thankfully for Porter, Pickens, and the Steelers as a whole, nothing came of it other than the football being thrown.
Training camp is a time for the team to come together, grow together, and get ready for the season. Every moment spent battling each other after the play ends is a moment spent poorly and can lead to disaster. Iron sharpens iron, yes, but it has to be sharpened carefully. Players cannot go around swinging fists at each other. That leads to chipped iron, not sharpened iron. Thankfully it appears that Porter has his mindset right in terms of battling during the play and leaving it there.
For more of Porter’s thoughts on the play and bouncing back, check out Josh Carney’s writeup of Porter’s comments about battling back tomorrow. Every cornerback will get burned in this league, whether that’s by giving up a long touchdown or by getting posterizes as Pickens did to Porter Tuesday. The good (and great) cornerbacks have the ability to bounce back the next play, and that’s what Porter aims to do.
It appears that Porter is prepared to bounce back against Pickens but with the mentality that, at the end of the day, they’re both Pittsburgh Steelers. That means respect, admiration, and the battle is only during the whistle.
