Steelers Now
Former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman revealed on his Name with Games podcast that Bill Belichick used to rip the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman for holding. He also thought it was intentional and encouraged by the Steelers’ coaching staff.
“They always had big, mean-looking lineman,” Edelman said. “The Steelers could be the coolest-looking team when you see them get off the bus. Because they’re always the all-black [uniforms], the yellow and black.
“They get off the bus and they were always large. They love big guys that can hold on the offensive line. That’s always what I heard Bill say. Bill would always be saying, ‘These guys are f***ing large and like to hold. They coach them to hold.”
Former Patriots defensive lineman Lawrence Guy, who was a guest on Edelman’s podcast, said the Steelers offensive lineman were notorious for holding.
“I’ll never forget, the ref told me, he said, ‘I see him holding you, but you’ve gotta make an attempt to get off,” Guy said. “I said, ‘I can’t. This man’s hands are strong. I’m struggling.’ They’re like, ‘It is what it is.’ But the whole Pittsburgh offensive line during that era, it was just a fun game.”
To say the least, it’s ironic that Belichick thought the Steelers tried to get an unfair advantage. I mean, he was the mastermind of “Spygate.”
Former Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison thinks the Patriots stole at least one Super Bowl from the Steelers due to Spygate.
“They did a little [finagling] over there,” Harrison said recently on his Deebo & Joe podcast. “That one year [2004], the year that we was [15-1], we popped them and Philly back-to-back, and then they came to the AFC Championship Game. Bruh, when I say they caught us, they only missed one blitz. What in the world, Joe? How many times in your career have you ever seen where an offense get ya’ll on every blitz you do but one?
“…That’s like playing Tecmo Bowl, and I get your play. It’s over with. …I was like, ‘Yeah, we about to get to the Super Bowl.’ And we at home. We were at the crib. That was upsetting and disappointing. That should have been a back-to-back because the next year we won.”
The Steelers lost to the New England Patriots, 24-17, in the AFC Championship Game in the 2001-2002 season. The first of the Steelers’ two losses to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game during Spygate, the other coming in 2004.
Harrison’s co-host, Joe Haden, a former Steelers cornerback, told Harrison the Patriots “stole a two-piece” from Pittsburgh.
Harrison wasn’t on the team in 2001, but he believes they got robbed in 2004 at least.
“They stole a one-piece at least,” Harrison said.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Former Patriot Reveals Bill Belichick Thought Steelers Cheated
