Ranking the 5 biggest Pittsburgh Steelers villains
By JOEL SOLOMON
2 Point Lead
Cincinnati Bengals linebacker/headhunter, Vontaze Burfict isn't the first player to get under the skin of Pittsburgh Steelers' fans, but he just might be the dirtiest. Here's a list of players who know how to draw the ire of the Black and Gold:
1. RAY LEWIS
Just hearing the name Ray Lewis is enough to arouse anger with Steelers fans. While much of the hate has to do with his brash trash talking, over-the-top celebrations (mimicking Joey Porter's sack celebration) and the extra hard-hitting (he broke Rashard Mendenhall's shoulder in 2008). There will always be those (dropped) double murder chargers. But mostly it's because of this dance:
2. VONTAZE BURFICT
In just four seasons Vontaze Burfict is quickly becoming enemy No. 1 not just with the Steelers, but also around the entire league. Whereas with the Baltimore Ravens there was a mutual respect, Burfict's reputation as a dirty player is well documented. This season alone, the one-man wrecking crew has inflicted injuries to Le'Veon Bell, Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown with incredibly questionable hits. Then again, if your name was Vontaze Burfict, you'd probably have anger issues also.
3. TERRELL SUGGS
Imagine the professional wrestler you hated the most as a child. That's Terrell Suggs. The 2011 Defensive Player of the Year, Suggs once suggested the Ravens put a bounty out for Hines Ward and Rashard Mendendhall, although he quickly said he misspoke. One thing Suggs can't take back is wearing a shirt with a raven giving Pittsburgh the middle finger and the line "You Bet Your @ss I Hate the Steelers." Looks like Suggs won't be sending the Steelers any Edible Arrangements anytime soon.
4. TOM BRADY/BILL BELICHICK/PATRIOTS
The Patriots could be on any team's list of sworn enemies, but the Steelers have a pretty compelling argument. The Pats beat the Steelers not once, but twice on Heinz Field in AFC Championship games ('01 and '04) and fans point to Spy Gate as the reason the Patriots had the edge. To add fuel to that fire, in this year's season opener the Patriots' shady tactics again were brought into question when Mike Tomlin alluded to the questionable headset issues at Gillette Stadium. Gillette, apparently not "the best a man can get" when it comes to working coaches' headsets.
5. NEIL O'DONNELL
Neil O'Donnell is on this list over players like Bart Scott, Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata because even though it's been over 20 years, Steelers fans still have a hard time forgiving him for costing them Super Bowl XXX. O'Donnell's two gift interceptions to Larry Brown were so poorly thrown, if concussion protocol existed back then he would have been immediately been sent to the sidelines to have his head examined. It would have been fitting if O'Donnell also handed Larry Brown the MVP trophy when the game was over.
