Rodgers and McCarthy go at it on a hot mic, Porter Jr. is already gone, and the Steelers lose to the Browns anyway
Pittsburgh's messy Thursday night in Cleveland had everything: a blockbuster trade dumped hours before kickoff, a profanity-laced sideline blowup between quarterback and head coach caught on Amazon's mics, and a walk-off field goal that dropped the Steelers to .500.
In brief
Rodgers and McCarthy go at it on a hot mic, Porter Jr. is already gone, and the Steelers lose to the Browns anyway
Pittsburgh had one of the ugliest 24-hour stretches any NFL team can have in early October. The Steelers traded their starting cornerback less than a day before a divisional road game, watched their quarterback and head coach curse each other out on national television, rallied from 14 points down to tie the score in the fourth quarter, and then lost on a 56-yard walk-off field goal. The Browns are 3-1. The Steelers are 2-2 and bleeding questions they do not have clean answers to.
Porter Jr. is a Cowboy now
After a lengthy and contentious contract standoff and a lingering back issue, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is going to the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers traded Porter to the Cowboys for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder, Dallas announced Thursday.
Porter, entering the final season of his 2023 rookie contract, was seeking an extension but he and Pittsburgh were unable to come to terms. The 26-year-old had missed each of the Steelers' first three games this season. The heart of the dispute was the guaranteed money within the contract's structure, sources told ESPN, and the sides never made meaningful progress on agreeing to terms despite talks as late as hours before kickoff of the Steelers' Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons. The Steelers then stopped talks because they don't negotiate during the regular season as a longstanding organizational principle.
Porter sought a new deal after draft classmates Christian Gonzalez and Devon Witherspoon signed record-setting extensions. ESPN's Dan Graziano suggested Porter wanted $30 million per season, a figure only six cornerbacks earn. The Steelers reportedly offered Porter a contract paying just north of $27 million in 2026, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac reported that Porter rejected it.
The 2027 sixth-round pick Pittsburgh gets back is actually their own sixth-rounder, which they had previously traded to the Cowboys as part of the George Pickens deal. It marks the third trade the two franchises have made since May 2025, as both George Pickens and Broderick Jones were previously sent to Dallas.
Porter addressed the move in an Instagram story Thursday morning, writing, "Here I come ..." A league source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that there is a "chance" that Porter will make his Cowboys debut Sunday against the Houston Texans. Porter needs to be on the Cowboys' gameday roster for two games this season per conditions on the 2027 pick.
The hot mic moment everyone is talking about
Losing Porter Jr. was the front-page item Wednesday night. By Thursday morning, a sideline exchange had taken over.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy expressed regret Thursday night for the words he aimed at quarterback Aaron Rodgers during a first-quarter sideline flare-up that the NFL's Thursday Night Football broadcast caught in a 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Rodgers was caught on the broadcast angrily gesturing toward McCarthy after appearing to wait for the offensive play call. With Pittsburgh inside Cleveland territory, the veteran quarterback could be heard shouting, "What the f**k?! Call it!" as the play clock continued to run. Cameras showed McCarthy appearing to answer with profanity. "Any negative communication on my part, I wish I wouldn't use those words," McCarthy said after the game.
Rodgers' outburst came late in the opening drive, which went 17 plays and took 9:48 off the clock. It was Pittsburgh's longest drive of the season, and it ended in a touchdown for a 7-0 lead. Rodgers blamed the crowd noise afterward. "It was loud," Rodgers said. "It was definitely a good crowd tonight. It was loud. So some of the calls, it was hard to hear for sure."
Rodgers and McCarthy won a Super Bowl together in Green Bay after the 2010 season. Their partnership there eventually collapsed in acrimony. Now, reunited in Pittsburgh a decade and a half later, the cameras caught them right back in it.
Cleveland wins it at the gun
The football itself was legitimately good. Cleveland responded to Pittsburgh's opening touchdown with three touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 21-7 advantage. Pittsburgh trailed 21-10 at halftime before its offense finally found another gear in the fourth quarter.
Rodgers finished 22-of-40 for 299 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. DK Metcalf produced 115 receiving yards. Jaylen Warren accounted for 126 total yards. Pittsburgh rallied to tie it late. Then came the ending.
Andre Szmyt kicked a career-long 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining to give the Cleveland Browns a 27-24 victory. Deshaun Watson directed the winning drive by completing 4 of 5 passes for 46 yards, setting up Szmyt's decisive kick and extending his streak to 22 consecutive field goals made. Grant Delpit intercepted Rodgers' desperate final throw to seal it.
The AFC North battle between two 2-1 teams saw the Cleveland Browns separate themselves and move to 3-1. The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped to .500 following the 27-24 home win.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker TJ Watt was left frustrated with his defense after the loss. When a reporter asked him about the Porter Jr. trade in his postgame availability, the Thursday Night Football game came just 48 hours after the Steelers had traded the cornerback to the Cowboys. Porter Jr.'s contract dispute had weighed over the team's start to the season, but Pittsburgh's decision to trade him sparked a split reaction from fans. Watt shut the question down immediately and moved on.
The Steelers play the Houston Texans on Sunday. Porter Jr. might play for Dallas the same afternoon.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
