PITTSBURGH — A Channel 11 exclusive: sports anchor Jenna Harner is the first reporter in Pittsburgh to sit down with both Joey Porter Sr. and Joey Porter Jr. to talk about their place in the Steelers’ legacy.
Porter Sr. played for the Steelers from 1999 to 2006. The Steelers drafted his son this year and the team just named him a starter ahead of the Thursday night game against the Tennessee Titans.
Harner asked Porter Sr. if he always knew his son would follow his footsteps into the NFL.
“No. I mean, he was willing to have the opportunity to play football, which he fell in love with early on once he committed to it,” Porter Sr. said. “(As a father), anything he starts in life, you want to pour into like I pour into all my kids. I have tried to make them better than me, no matter what it is.”
Porter Sr. said he was prepared to see his son play for any team in the NFL, but when the family heard Alan Faneca announced Porter Jr. as the 32nd pick in the draft the excitement was through the roof.
“To come back home to Pittsburgh, I don’t have to change my wardrobe. I don’t have to change anything. The day he got drafted, he just went to my closet. It was like, here, do you need a hoodie? We have years and years of Steelers stuff in our house,” Porter Sr. said.
For Porter, Jr., suiting up for the Steelers 17 years after his father did, is surreal.
“You can only dream of situations like what happened. And the fact that I’m in that situation is crazy,” Porter Jr. said. “I have my own Steelers jersey. I used to wear his while I watched his highlights on YouTube.”
Harner asked Porter Jr. how often he goes to his dad for advice.
“If not 100%, at least 99%. Because we basically talk every day, if not every other day. And it’s not just about football, it’s often mental work, like how I am doing and how I’m handling things outside of football,” Porter Jr. said.
As for whether Dad gets nervous watching Jr. play?
“I’m just watching him play football. I don’t get nervous for him. If he makes a bad play, that’s football. It’s going to happen. It’s how you respond after a bad play,” Porter Sr. said.
As dads often do, they have high hopes and dreams for their children and want to see them reach even greater heights in their journeys.
“He definitely has the potential to be a bigger NFL star than me. That was the goal,” Porter Sr. said.
“He always preached, he wanted me to be better than him,” Porter Jr. added. “That was always a topic in our conversation when we’re playing sports. He always gave me the utmost confidence going out there. And he made me want to wear my last name proudly.”
As for playing sports, the two are very competitive, whether it be ping pong or video games. When asked about their competitiveness, the two exchanged well-intended barbs, but Porter Jr. got the last word.
“We used to play Madden. I didn’t want to play him anymore because he played like an NFL coach. He played the clock, ran the ball, let the clock run. He’s not playing like you’re supposed to play Madden,” Porter Jr. said.
“Three possessions. You better be ready,” Porter Sr. quipped.
Porter Jr. chipped in, “Nobody wants to play like that.”
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