Steelers Now
Former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon shared a wild story on what former Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison did to him during a game in 2012. He also made sure to rip Acrisure Stadium and the city of Pittsburgh.
“James Harrison broke my ankle,” Gordon said when live streamer N3on asked him what was the hardest hit he took during his career. “It was my rookie season too. The foot was planted, it’s just the cleats got planted and that shitty ass turf in Pittsburgh, in Shitsburgh.”
Gordon suffered a right ankle injury in the final game of the season against the Steelers in 2012. The Steelers won the game, 24-10. Gordon caught two passes for 29 yards before leaving the game.
Harrison had a history of delivering brutal hits on Browns wide receivers. He famously knocked out Mohamed Massaquoi and Joshua Cribbs in the same game in Week 6 of the 2010 season.
Acrisure Stadium/Heinz Field also has a long history of having a poor playing surface. The Steelers’ grass playing surface came under fire again in the 2025 season, with kicker Chris Boswell slipping and missing a field goal and special teams captain Miles Killebrew suffered a season-ending knee injury, which some teammates attributed to the turf.
The field was so bad last year that the Steelers received an F- grade for their home playing surface in the 2026 NFLPA report card, ranking last in the league.
Steelers president Art Rooney II confirmed at the NFL Owners Meetings in Apriol that the team is in the process of replacing Acrisure Stadium’s playing surface.
Gordon revealed last year that he could’ve became a Steeler.
“I ended up staying in Seattle for two years and getting to meet Russell,” Gordon said on the Glory Daze podcast with Johnny Manziel. “And Russell [Wilson], he even called me wanting to go. He’s like, ‘Hey man, let me see if I can get you in with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ when I was already done and out of Tennessee.”
Gordon, 34, hasn’t played in the NFL since the 2022 season, which he spent with the Tennessee Titans. It was quite the forgettable year, too, as he only appeared in two games and never recorded a statistic.
However, Gordon was once one of the best wide receivers in the league. He was selected in the second round of the 2012 Supplemental draft by the Cleveland Browns and immediately made his presence felt.
As a rookie, Gordon racked up 50 catches for 805 yards and five touchdowns. The following season, he recorded a career-high 87 catches for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns while also earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.
Gordon started getting in trouble outside of football, though. In 2013, the NFL announced that Gordon would be suspended for the first two games for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
Then in 2014, he was arrested for driving while impaired in Raleigh, North Carolina and suspended for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy once again,...
