The rivalry between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens since the early 2000s has been well documented.
Two tough teams built in similar fashion led by Hall of Famers on defense that led to close, rugged games with big hits, big plays and some hatred.
It’s what football was always meant to be.
Though the game has changed in recent years taking away that opportunity for the physicality that the two teams have historically displayed, Steelers-Ravens still means a great deal to the players involved — past and present — and still elicits great memories from players in the past.
That includes former Ravens defensive end Terrell Suggs, who was an absolute menace to the Steelers and was the face of the rivalry from Baltimore’s side for a number of years in the mid-2010s.
Speaking with GQ’s Matthew Robertson for an interview that published Friday, Suggs recalled some of his favorite moments from Steelers-Ravens during his playing time. Unsurprisingly, they featured a number of defensive plays that his teammates made with big hits on guys like wide receiver Hines Ward and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
“Definitely coming out with the gladiator mask. Definitely Jarret Johnson hitting Hines Ward. Definitely Bart Scott hitting Ben Roethlisberger. Definitely Haloti [Ngata] breaking Ben’s nose. We had some battles! Yeah, they’re our rivals. Yeah, we don’t like them,” Suggs said to Robertson, via GQ.com. “But we had a tremendous amount of respect for each other because we brought so much out of each other, you know what I mean? I hear it all the time—especially from Steeler fans, oddly enough—we miss the old days! We miss the battles! It was good to be appreciated.”
Suggs wore the gladiator helmet coming out of the tunnel ahead of the Week Two matchup in 2014 at M&T Bank Stadium against the rival Steelers, firing up the home crowd, helping Baltimore get off to a fast start in an eventual 26-6 win.
After that win, he told reporters that he thought the Ravens needed a boost. They sure got one with Suggs’ dramatic entrance.
As for some of the plays, they were hard hits and personified the rivalry from the Ravens’ standpoint.
Johnson de-cleated Ward prior to Ed Reed picking off a Roethlisberger pass, which remains one of the Ravens’ favorite plays from the rivalry. There is also Scott burying Roethlisberger on a blitz, knocking the wind out of the him at M&T Bank Stadium, getting one of the cleanest shots on the big, strong quarterback in his career.
The Ngata play — the massive defensive tackle broke Roethlisberger’s nose on a sack attempt — stands out, as well.
Suggs had his moments, too, having a great rivalry with not only the Steelers, but Roethlisberger as well.
Back then, that was when football was at its best. Steelers-Ravens, physical, chippy, the game just meant so much more than a regular season game.
“It went hand-in-hand, especially with guys like Hines Ward and James Harrison. We didn’t like them. It wasn’t a hate, like if we saw them on the street we weren’t going to get in a brawl,” Suggs added, according to GQ.com. “Nah, it wasn’t that kind of hate. It was a football rivalry. Their flag vs. our flag kind of thing.”
There won’t be another rivalry like it in the NFL anytime soon, maybe ever, with the way the rules are now.
