When you spend enough time on this earth, you start to see the generational turnover in the realm of sports. The players that you grew up watching on a weekly basis call it a career and retire, continuing with life’s work to raise families and start new career occupations. However, some of these players pass on their athletic gifts to their children, having a few follow in their fathers’ footsteps to become prominent collegiate and professional players.
This is the case with former Pittsburgh Steelers OLB Joey Porter Sr. who helped the team win Super Bowl XL, finishing his career with the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals before coming back to coach the outside linebackers in Pittsburgh for a few seasons. His son, Joey Porter Jr., became a talented defensive back in the area, going on to play his college ball at Penn State and ended up getting drafted by his dad’s former team in the 2023 NFL Draft.
While it can be weird for fans to see the sons of former players out there on the football field in the NFL, that feeling can be elevated by NFL players who happen to play with a father and his son during their NFL careers. Steelers CB Patrick Peterson holds that honor, having spent time playing with Porter Sr. during the beginning of his career and now is teammates with Porter Jr. in the twilight stages of his career. Speaking to Chris Long on the Green Light podcast, Peterson was asked by Long about any differences from Joey Porter Jr. to his dad regarding their respective personalities.
“Oh, he’s night and day different from his dad. Like [Joey Porter] Senior is like the life of the party, you know?” Peterson said on the Green Light podcast which aired on the show’s YouTube channel. “Very, very rowdy. He has like a defensive line mentality if you know what I mean. He don’t give two shits about nothing. But his son on the other hand, is completely just quiet… to himself. But he also loves the game. He wants all the input that I can give him, that coaches can give him. He just wanna find a way to be the best version of him.”
Joey Porter Sr. and Patrick Peterson played together for just one season in Arizona when Peterson was a rookie in 2011. Porter Sr. only played in six games that year due to injury, but he still obviously left an impact on Peterson with his tough, junkyard dog mentality he was famously known for.
Joey Porter Jr., on the other hand, has always been compared to his mother when it comes to his temperament. He has more of a laid-back, kind-hearted nature about himself when it comes to addressing the media in interviews. We’ve seen him talk trash on the field in battles, with WR George Pickens, but not to the point like his father would during his playing days. However, just because Joey Porter Jr. is quieter than his dad, that doesn’t lower his love for the game as Peterson said. He has been tied to the hip of Peterson ever since getting drafted by Pittsburgh, learning from the veteran as he works to hone his craft to become the best player he can be.
Joey Porter Jr. and his father may be different is several notable ways, but the two are tight as Porter Sr. helped training Porter Jr. into the player that he has become today. The two love the game of football as Porter Sr. left a profound legacy and Porter Jr. looks to create his own story outside of the shadow of his father. It’s a great relationship to see from a former Steelers’ great and a hopeful future Steelers’ great keeping the Black and Gold Tradition within the family.
