Caleb Harris
Apparently, James Harrison is following the plan of being a former Steelers legend. Briefly maligned after ending his career with the Patriots, Harrison has now joined the list of Steelers icons who accused New England of cheating during his time in Pittsburgh.
Harrison actually cut current Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward when Heyward asked if he thought the Patriots cheated in the 2004 AFC Championship game.
“Hell yeah, they were cheating.” Harrison said on Heyward’s podcast. “They just missed one blitz, man, where before, when we beat New England and Philadelphia, they couldn’t see the wide side of a barn.”
Harrison was referring to Pittsburgh’s two-game streak during the 2004 season when they defeated the Patriots and Eagles (the two teams that would play in that year’s championship). Super Bowl) for a combined score of 61-23. The first of those two victories was a 34-20 triumph over a Patriots team that came to Pittsburgh with a NFL record streak of 21 consecutive victories.
It was a different story when the Steelers and Patriots met again months later for the right to go to the Super Bowl. The game was never close, as the Patriots jumped out to a big lead early before winning 41-27 over a Steelers team that had lost just once during the regular season.
Several notable former Steelers felt the Patriots had an unfair advantage in that game. Last fall, former Steelers Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis said the Patriots cheated before stopping him on a crucial fourth and short play early in the first half.
“They got our signals and called a timeout to prepare them for that play because they knew it was coming,” Bettis said on former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s podcast. “No doubt in my mind.”
Roethlisberger also accused the Patriots of cheating in that game during his conversation with Bettis, echoing previous sentiments from former teammates Hines Ward and Joey Porter. In fact, Porter accused New England of cheating during both AFC title game victories over Pittsburgh during the 2000s.
“They’ve been filming for years, man,” Porter told ESPN in 2008. “Twice we could have eliminated these people easily. They say, ‘Oh, [Bill Belichick is] so smart. This is the best brainstorming trainer. Yes, because he is cheating. He was caught.
“If it wasn’t that bad, why did you destroy the tape so quickly? We want to see the tapes. When you get rid of evidence like that, there was something on it that they didn’t want everyone to see.”
Porter was referring to the Patriots’ videotaped opponent signals (which reportedly included a copy of the Steelers’ 2001 defensive signals) that the NFL destroyed during its internal investigation that will forever be known as Spygate. O NFL ultimately fined Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization $750,000 and also took away New England’s 2008 first-round pick.
Clearly the Patriots had some sort of advantage, but what role did that play in New England winning these games? The only people who might have the answer to that question are Bill Belichick and former New England Research Director Ernie Adams. Belichick has put Spygate in his rearview mirror, and Adams said in Apple TV’s Patriots documentary that he will take his information about Spygate “To the grave.”
Spygate likely played some role in these games. However, it’s important to note that the Patriots got an epic performance from Drew Bledsoe after he replaced the injured Brady during New England’s victory in the 2001 AFC title game in Pittsburgh. Bledsoe outplayed Steelers starting quarterback Kordell Stewart, who threw three interceptions in Pittsburgh’s 24-17 loss.
Three years later, running back Corey Dillon and receiver Deion Branch — who were injured and didn’t play in New England’s loss to Pittsburgh during the 2004 regular season — were back and played key roles in the Patriots’ second title win. from AFC. about the Steelers.
While many of his former players feel like they cheated, former Steelers coach and 2020 Hall of Fame inductee Bill Cowher doesn’t use Spygate as an excuse for his team failing in those games.
“It’s only cheating if you get caught,” Cowher said in a 2021 interview with Atlético. “Like any player, if you’re going to hold it, don’t get caught. If you get caught, you’re wrong, if you don’t, you’re right. I always thought we never lost games to New England because of Spygate.
“If [Belichick] I got the calls because we didn’t do a good job of making sure we signaled the entrance, that’s on us, that’s not on him. Because we are always looking for competitive advantages.”
