The taunt
In 2003, Porter became incensed when he watched Ray Lewis celebrate a tackle by performing the "boot," Porter's signature move.
Porter, who did not play that game because he was recovering from a gunshot wound, then went to the Ravens' bus outside Heinz Field and exchanged words with Lewis from about 50 feet away.
"He got exactly what he was looking for, a beating," Porter said after the game. "He made one tackle and he got up and did the 'boot' like he did something. Dude, you're getting blown out right now, and it happened all day."
In the second meeting that season, Lewis delivered the "boot" again during pre-game introductions. At the coin flip, Lewis and Porter refused to shake hands and went nose-to-nose shouting at each other and bobbing their heads.
The cheap shot
Porter was again at the center of an altercation in 2004 by crossing the line with Heap.
After spraining his ankle on the previous play, Heap limped to the line of scrimmage so the Ravens didn't have to waste a timeout on his injury in the final minute of the first half. As the Ravens spiked the ball to stop the clock, Porter shoved Heap to the ground, causing him to roll over backward.
"Porter's an [expletive]," cornerback Chris McAlister said after the game. "That's the bottom line. There's no reason for anyone to take a cheap shot like that."
Heap went on to miss nine games with the ankle injury.
"It was definitely a cheap shot. ... It was unnecessary," offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden said. "I was trying to get him after that."
The threat
The latest incident in this rivalry happened last season, when Ravens linebacker Bart Scott threatened to "kill" Ward.
Scott issued the warning after Ward leveled him with a late block (it came when running back Willie Parker was going out of bounds). They will meet on the field tomorrow.
"I threatened him," Scott said last season. "If I see him again, I'm going to threaten him again."
In leading up to tomorrow night's game, Scott downplayed any grudge, but he did shed some perspective on the existing animosity between the Ravens and Steelers.
"I think it's a mirror image of two teams that are very physical," he said. "When you've got two rams butting heads, of course there's going to be some animosity because we're pretty much built the same way. We know it's going to be a man's day. Usually, the best team is the team that comes out and lays the wood the hardest."
RAVENS
@STEELERS
Tomorrow, 8:30 p.m.
TV: Ch. 13, ESPN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 1090 AM
Line: Steelers by 5
