The Pittsburgh Steelers made a homecoming of sorts happen tonight with the drafting of cornerback Joey Porter Jr. with the 32nd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. His dad, Joey Porter Sr., was not only a very good Steeler, but also famous for his personality and trash talk. An obvious question now is will Porter Jr. bring that same kind of attitude with him to the Steelers.
When Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin met with the media and, via the Steelers’ YouTube page, he was asked if Porter Jr. is like his dad in the trash talking department.
“That’d be hard to live up to your dad’s trash talking, Joey’s as good as there ever was” Austin responded. “But no, he’s his own person. Really attentive in my interactions with him, I know I was up there with the Pro Day and I was kind of running it a little bit and sticking my nose in there because I wanted to be involved to see how he was. And [he is a] really good listener, [he is] going to ask the right questions and going to do the things that you ask him to do because he wants to be good, he wants to excel. So, I don’t know if he’ll be a big trash talker, I don’t really care about that. All I care about is how does he play on Sundays and I think he’s setting himself up to give himself an opportunity to be a good player.”
Porter Jr. has a big legacy to live up to in Pittsburgh while following in his father’s footsteps. While Porter Sr. may known for his trash talking and his ability to rile up his opponents, let’s not forget he also won a Super Bowl with the Steelers. For Pittsburgh to get back to the Super Bowl, Porter Jr. will have to pan out and play a big role.
As Austin said, Porter Jr. is a good listener and asks the right questions, something that will help him excel in the NFL. Porter Jr. was known to be a little grabby in college and that is something he will have to clean up at the next level since defensive holding calls will be called more often. If he can clean that up though, watch out.
A lengthy cornerback, Joey Porter Jr. has potential to help slow down some of the best passing units on the league if he develops properly. That is what is most important, but if he can also tap into his father’s trash-talking talent too I’m sure most Steelers fans would be more than thrilled to see that.
