Even in the modern era, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been known for being a very physical team that will not hesitate to take the heads off of any player that challenges them. That elite, physical defenses led the team to three Super Bowl appearances in a six-season span, including two wins. In fact, the '08/09 AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Ravens was full of these kinds of hits in all phases of the game. That game was also the final game for a superstar.
Lorenzo Neal spent that '08/09 season with the Ravens after spending the previous five with the San Diego Chargers. Neal was expected to keep up his All-Pro status after making a name for himself in San Diego. Instead, Neal had his struggles against the Steelers' elite defense. On his podcast, Bleav In Chargers, Neal talked about the toll that that season took on his body, especially the three-game sweep to the Ravens' most hated division rival.
"I was in Baltimore the year of the ['08/09] AFC Championship Game. We lose to the Steelers, probably could've won that game. We lost to them three times that year. That was the year that pretty much retired me because it was just Le'Ron McClain, who played fullback, that I was blocking for, and Ray Rice. That year took at least two years off my career. I think I would've played another two or three years if I didn't go to Baltimore."
While the Steelers have always been known as a physical team, the rivalry between them and the Ravens has been known to be a bloodbath with how physical both teams are, and how they even built their identities off of the black-and-gold's physicality. Neal had always been a great fullback, and he even became an elite fullback and a key piece of the Chargers, but even he couldn't handle the AFC North rivalries.
Ravens Mimicked Steelers To End Neal's Career
The Ravens went 11-5 in the 2008 season, with two of those losses being to the Steelers. They managed to sneak into the playoffs as the six seed, then they took out the Miami Dolphins and the top-seeded Tennessee Titans on their way to the Conference Championship. What's even more impressive is that they made it that far with a rookie quarterback and head coach, Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh.
Even with the new faces leading the team, the Ravens still kept up with that physical identity and mimicking the Steelers. Each team had a physical counterpart to each other that was known across the league. The Ravens had Ed Reed; the Steelers had Troy Polamalu. The Ravens had Ray Lewis; the Steelers had Joey Porter Sr., then James Harrison.
If Neal wanted to survive in Baltimore, he had to adapt to the old-fashioned style of football. That's just how the AFC North plays football, and they still play that style to this day. Lamar Jackson has struggled to adapt to that style, and it's why he has only beaten the Steelers once in his career. Neal just had one season to try and learn the rivalry and it ended his career.
Neal did attempt to continue his career with the Oakland Raiders, but he was put on Injured Reserve during the preseason, then cut from the team a week later. He retired from the game of football from there. Who knows how much longer he would've played had he avoided the AFC North entirely? He thinks he could've played for at least two more years, but we will never truly know because of how much he had to deal with while playing for the Ravens
