Patrick Queen Explains Why He Wants to be the Villain vs. Ravens: ‘I Wasn’t Wanted Back’
Pittsburgh Steelers LB Patrick Queen explains why he was willing to be a villain against the Baltimore Ravens: he wasn't offered a contract.
PITTSBURGH — Every villain has an origin story. For fans of the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen will be a villain this week.
This spring, Queen became one of the few players ever to sign a big-money contract on the opposite side of the Steelers-Ravens rivalry. Queen inked a three-year, $41 million deal with the Steelers back in March, and Queen was quick to commit to the bit as a villain, switching sides in the rivalry.
“It’s going to be weird, you know, I wanna be that villain, I want to be that guy,” Queen said back in March. “I’m looking to do some stuff to them.”
With the Ravens on the schedule this Sunday, Queen will certainly be getting that chance. But he also allowed a peek behind the curtain of why he was willing to burn bridges on his way out of Baltimore: He wasn’t offered a chance to stay.
“I wasn’t wanted back,” the All-Pro linebacker said on Wednesday while discussing his contract situation for the first time. “I didn’t get an offer back. It was definitely kind of upsetting, you know, being there for four years and the bond that you grow with your teammates and stuff.”
Queen said that he’s been in touch with his former Ravens teammates, including fellow linebacker Roquan Smith this past week before the two shut things down ahead of the game, but Queen hasn’t spoken to Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta or head coach John Harbaugh since the day he walked out of the doors of the Ravens facility.
In many ways, facing the Ravens this week is bringing some of those feelings back to the surface for Queen after he had largely moved on.
“The first few months, you definitely go through those feelings,” he said. “Now, after playing games, you just go by. You want to win games. You want to win with your new teammates. You want to bond with those guys. Everything you do is for the organization that you’re in now.”
That includes, of course, being the villain this week, something that he’s been looking forward to, even if the feelings from this spring have tempered.
“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” he said. “I think the outside picture makes it bigger than what it is. … I definitely did feel a type of way after the whole situation, but I’m over it now.”
