It’s been widely accepted over time that greatness tends to come with a streak of competitiveness. That need to be the best is what helps drive many to excel in their chosen fields. And that can get a little complicated when a father and son go down the same path—or a parallel one, anyway.
Like Joey Porter Jr. and his father, Joey Porter Sr., who was drafted by the same team 24 years earlier. Senior was a third-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1999 and made three Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams while there for eight years as part of a 13-year career.
Junior, drafted in the second round in 2023, is just competing his rookie season after being named the team’s Rookie of the Year. A fact he was happy to point out, his father didn’t manage to do it back in 1999 when it was won by first-round WR Troy Edwards. That’s as far as their competitiveness goes, though.
“Everybody wanted me to play linebacker and wear 55 because of my dad. But me and him had the talk way before”, the younger Porter told reporters earlier this week after receiving the Joe Greene Great Performance Award.
“It was always like, we’re not gonna compare each other”, he went on. “This is a father-son thing; not a lot of people get to experience this. Let’s enjoy it as it is and not try to beat ourselves up [about] who had a better career or who went higher. Ever since then, it’s just been perfect with us, and we both have that understanding”.
For the most part, the elder Porter has done a good job of keeping himself out of the mix. While he’s visited the facility here and there, he hasn’t tried to squeeze himself back onto coaching staff of head coach Mike Tomlin under whom he worked with the outside linebackers for a few years.
The two of them talk after every game, however, and father isn’t afraid to hold back his critiques. The rookie cornerback noted that his father wasn’t at all happy with his tackling, and that’s an area of his game that has noticeably improved over the course of the season.
Porter has played in every game of his rookie season, starting 10, and logging 750 defensive snaps. He has 43 tackles on the year with one for loss, 10 passes defensed, and one interception. Week after week, he asks for and receives permission to cover each opponent’s top receiver, embracing the shutdown corner role the Steelers hoped he could fill when they drafted him 32nd overall.
While he was drafted higher than his father, Porter still has a chip on his shoulder about being passed over in the first round. The Steelers opted to trade up three spots instead to draft T Broderick Jones, anticipating that they wouldn’t have another shot at the cornerback, but he was still there at the top of the second round. And despite robust offers to trade back, they wouldn’t budge. That’s looking like a wise move.
