"That wasn't always the case between Todd Heap and Joey Porter.

For six bloody years, they were in the middle of the NFL's most vicious rivalry. Porter was an instigating, bone-crushing linebacker for the Steelers. Heap was a quiet tight end for the mouthy Ravens, a team that delighted in matching Pittsburgh's Old World toughness.

And then it became personal.

"Joey and I obviously have a very good relationship now," Heap said. "But I wasn't too fond of him for a long time."

Their relationship soured early in the 2004 season, after Heap injured his ankle near the end of the first half. He hobbled to the line of scrimmage, in no condition to play. The Ravens decided to spike the ball and stop the clock. Everyone seemed to acknowledge the concession, only Porter didn't play nice.

On the snap, he pushed Heap backward, and the tight end toppled over in pain. He would be gone for many weeks after and played only six games that season.

"Oh, it's come up," Heap said. "But not since we've been in this locker room. It came up way before then."

Only the naive misunderstand the nature of football. Most defensive players come to hurt you. The ones who remove offensive stars from any given Sunday are privately lauded in the locker room, sometimes even rewarded. That's the way it goes.

At the time, Porter stood hardcore and unfazed. Despite the verbal jousting spawned by the malicious hit, he said the NFL was a man's game, a league where you hit people with your hands, where some guys "fake hobble" their way into an advantage."