There is no love lost between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens teams early on in the 21st century. The two franchises consistently battled for AFC Division Championships and in the playoffs. While it is now considered more of a respectful rivalry, it took some players a little bit longer to get over the smash mouth football and trash talking that happened for many years.
Former NFL linebacker, Bart Scott played the first seven seasons of his career with Baltimore and opened up recently on how he really feels about today's NFL and players jersey swapping, acting all buddy-buddy, among other things.
Baltimore Ravens former linebacker, Bart Scott displaying passion during one of his seven seasons with the organization. | Andy Lyons / Getty Images
The topic came up on ESPN's morning show, Get Up. Linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, Micah Parsons went on the record via Twitter essentially wishing the Philadelphia Eagles good luck in the Super Bowl. Parsons wanted their division rival to 'go win a bowl for our division.'
Love you big bro! Keep going! Not many like you! Definitely not playing like you healthy or with a torn groin! Go win a bowl for our division!
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) January 29, 2023
While Parsons was simply trying to show some respect to the competitive side of offensive lineman, Lane Johnson, who is playing hurt, it was not necessarily received well.
That led to Scott going on a complete rant about the players in today's day and age versus the ones when he played on the field with. Scott lost three AFC Championship games in a row and two came at the hands of the Steelers. There even was a specific Pittsburgh fan favorite that he brought up when hinting at the fact that he would never wish him luck in a big game.
Steelers legends Hines Ward (left), Ben Roethlisberger (middle) and James Harrison (right) stand at Heinz Field. | D. Jay Talbott / Icon SMI
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Hines Ward will also be a legend in Pittsburgh for his Super Bowl heroics and helping to solidify the identity of what it's like to be a longtime player for the organization. Scott, apparently really bothered by his past interactions with Pittsburgh and Ward in particular, claimed that he needed several years of therapy to avoid wanting to punch Ward in the face:
"It took me 5 years of therapy not to punch Hines Ward in the face when I saw him on sight," Scott said emphatically.
Scott was a very adamant player alongside Ray Lewis for many years. The fact that Ward is the number one player he thinks about when it comes a rivalry should make Steelers fans grin ear to ear just as Ward did throughout his career.
Steelers retired wide receiver, Hines Ward, and former Ravens cornerback, Chris McAlister, go at it during a regular season game in September, 2003. | David Maxwell / Getty Images
Scott did not hold back throughout the short monologue and he's not being a hypocrite. He was one of those players on the field that opposing fans didn't like and he was consistently trash talking mid-game.
"This is supposed to be about gladiators. What is this, the SEC? We got divisional pride? What are we talking about? You're supposed to hate this man. This man been trying to throw your face through the ground and all of a sudden you hope he get nice things?"
Do you think Scott had so much hatred towards Ward, he actually went to therapy to calm himself down when around the should-be Hall of Famer? Let us know in the comments below!
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