No matter how much he hates the Patriots, you got to love Joey Porter.
You don't have to like him. You can shower him with boos, but don't hate him.
The Dolphins have singer Gloria Estefan as part of their ownership group, but Porter is the real Miami Sound Machine.
The motor-mouth Miami linebacker is a breath of fresh air in the corporate, buttoned-down, silence-please NFL. Most successful teams in the league nowadays are petrified to provide any motivational sound bites or bulletin-board material to the opposition, and bromides, coach-speak and false praise are the preferred patois.
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You may remember that before the team's first meeting last season, Porter impugned former Patriots backup Matt Cassel, saying that since Miami wasn't playing Tom Brady "it shouldn't be that hard" and that the Dolphins were going to treat Cassel "like you treat a backup" by throwing "the kitchen sink at him."
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After he antagonized Cassel last year, Porter delivered a career-high-tying four sacks and a forced fumble. When the Steelers ended the Patriots' record 21-game win streak in 2004, Porter was right in the middle of it with three sacks and two forced fumbles. In nine career games against the Patriots, including the playoffs, Porter has 12 sacks and four forced fumbles.
That type of production speaks for itself and speaks to that task that Patriots rookie left tackle Sebastian Vollmer could have on Sunday against Porter. English isn't Vollmer's first language, although the native of Germany speaks it extremely well. However, he's likely to hear things he's never heard before from the boisterous Porter.
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"Joey is somewhat the same off the field except for a toned-down version of that," said Simmons. "He is just a competitor, period. He's one of those type of people that even playing golf with him all the time during the off-season he is going to do whatever he can to get in your head. That's just how he is. You get used to it. You play with him, and you be around him for a long time you learn to tune it out."
It turns out that Porter silences himself during games. Simmons said Porter gets so hyped up and talks so much that he goes hoarse.
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