Last year a poll of NFL players ranked Steelers receiver Hines Ward as the dirtiest player in the league, and Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan as the sixth-dirtiest.
Finnegan, who will meet Ward on the field on Sunday when the Steelers visit Tennessee, says he aspires to be a dirtier player than Ward.
“He was voted the league’s dirtiest player, so you’ve got to give it up for him,” Finnegan said, per Terry McCormick of Titan Insider. “I’m number [six] right now, but I’m aspiring to one day hopefully be No. 1. So, I appreciate it.”
From Ward’s perspective, one dirty player can appreciate another.
“He has a little nastiness, a little dog in him. I like that,” Ward said. “Every time I watch him, I kind of smile. We are still competitors. We are going to go out there and compete and at the end of the game shake hands and wish each other good luck and go on about our business. I love everything about Cortland.”
We’ll see on Sunday whether Finnegan and Ward take a few extra shots at each other in an attempt to secure a place atop the dirtiest player rankings.