The person on the other end of the line paused while answering the phone.
“This is Joey Porter,” he said, adding after his victory, “Big.”
Once the only Joey Porter in the NFL world, Porter Sr. is now watching his son, Joey Porter Jr., win the game. , and he’s making his name as a potential first-round pick in the NFL Draft later this month.
“It’s fun,” Porter Jr. said, laughing about sharing his name. “I got used to it.”
To avoid confusion at home, Porter Jr. goes all out. From JJ to friends and family.
But on the court, there is no mistaking Porter Jr. for his dad. They’re both roughly 6-foot-3, but as an NFL outfielder for 13 seasons, Porter Sr. played heavyweight at a solid 248 pounds, while his son is 193 pounds with a wingspan of 81 inches. He has one of the best candidates in this year’s category.
As a cornerback press player, he is ranked No. 17 overall on the Mel Keeper senior plate and is ranked No. 3 in Matt Miller’s ranking for the cornerback class.
Porter Jr. joins Paris Johnson Jr. — whose father was a fifth-round pick from the Arizona Cardinals in 1999 — as a prospect in this year’s draft with a first-round prospect whose father played in the NFL, marking the growing number of second-generation players in the NFL. league.
In 2021, 3.4% of NFL players were second generation, up from 1.8% in 2001 and 1.0% in 1981.
For Porter Jr. and other longtime players, joining the family business is a double-edged sword, because for the many benefits that come with growth throughout the game, there’s also the inevitable pressure to live up to a name littered with preconceived expectations.
“It’s hard because your dad made so many big plays. He’s done so many big things in this league already, and the football world is so young,” said the Cincinnati Bengals, who recently signed NFL quarterback Orlando Brown Jr. Nine years old. Veteran Orlando Brown Sr. . “
However, the pressure doesn’t stop Porter Jr. from taking over his father’s game and crafting his own narrative as he prepares for the draft.
“People will always make comparisons,” Porter Jr. said. “I have my name and he has his.
“I just do what I love to do, which is to play football.”
It’s rare Porter Sr. to speak publicly about his son.
Since Porter Jr. arrived at Penn State as a four-star prospect in 2019, Porter Sr. has done only a handful of interviews, and it’s not because he didn’t pop the question.
“I don’t (do interviews) because it’s his journey and his time,” Porter Sr. said. “I never want to make the situation about me because it’s not like that, it’s about him.”
Porter Sr. does not want his career to overshadow the accomplishments of his eldest son.
Porter Sr. is busy while his son prepares for the draft, in the middle of his first season as linebackers coach for the San Antonio Brahms in the XFL. That is, he was completely out of the Porter Jr. draft process, but it’s not unlike the approach he’s taken throughout his son’s football career where Porter encourages his namesake father to get his way.
“Sometimes I talk to him before[the visit]sometimes I don’t,” Porter Sr. said. “There’s nothing I should make him up for in this situation, because at this point in time all you have to do is just go out there and be a good person. Let them see it.”
Porter Sr. does not worry about his son because he has been preparing him for these moments all his life. There’s no need to commit to an exam when every day is a study in how to be a pro.
Born a year after the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Porter Sr. in the third round of the 1999 draft, Porter grew up in the locker rooms and on the sidelines. When Porter Jr. was seven, his father signed a five-year contract with the Dolphins and he spent three seasons in Miami, followed by a two-year stint with the Arizona Cardinals before retiring. He then returned to the Steelers for five seasons as an assistant defensive general and linebackers coach.
“I feel like it’s a huge advantage,” Porter Jr. said. “Not a lot of people in their families have done that before. So the fact that he did it, and it’ll be in my corner and it’s saved me from bumping my head in certain situations. It’s a big deal for me and I definitely use it a lot.”
while his father Pursuing a coaching career, Porter Jr. became friends with Mason and Dino Tomlin, sons of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, and played basketball with the pair at the Boys and Girls Club. He also earned a spot as one of the Steelers’ ball boys, which gave him more glimpses into life as a professional football player, including testing his abilities against some members of the team.
“I remember when I was a little kid, I used to work with each one one at a time [Antonio Brown] “It was great therapy,” said NFL quarterback Porter Jr.. “I know he wasn’t going 100%, but just being able to line up against him was something special.”
All of these experiences give Porter Jr. and other second-generation hopefuls a set of intangibles, both inherited and acquired, that NFL coaches and general managers look for in evaluating talent.
“It’s really simple: professional football is less of a mystery to them,” Coach Tomlin said. “It’s not a dream for them when someone lives so close to you, whether it’s an older sibling or a parent.
“You see it, you know what it’s about, you get it. There’s less dreaming about it and more planning and taking action to achieve that end result. And I just think that creates a higher potential ground and makes the acquisition less mystical.”
The Baltimore Ravens built on that familiarity in 2018 when they selected Orlando Brown Jr. in the third round.
As a third grader watching the Ravens play Buffalo Bills, Brown Jr. knew he wanted to be like his father, who played in the NFL until 2005 and spent six seasons as the starting tackle for the Ravens before dying of diabetic ketoacidosis in 2011.
“It was the first time I really sat down and watched an entire game and really watched right tackle and left tackle,” he said. “I really watched it…it just kind of clicked for me that day. And I just remember thinking to myself, ‘This is what I really want to do. ‘” “
Former general manager Ozzie Newsom, who was part of the Cleveland Browns front office that drafted the Browns Sr. and the Ravens front office that signed him as a free agent, drafted Browns Jr., and fulfilled a childhood dream — and not so accidental prophecy.
“At the end of the day being able to get this opportunity to be the starting left tackle for the Ravens was very special to me and my family,” said Brown Jr., who played for the Ravens from 2018 to 2020.
Porter Jr. be seen Instant recognition flashes on a person’s face when they introduce themselves. A carbon copy of the father’s broad smile indicates family connection, but his name reveals it instantly.
Sharing a family name and dynasty with the NFL’s great, however, doesn’t mean the second generation’s path is an outright pro path. The NFL dad is not a cheat code, nor does he allow their kids to skip practice hours, study movies, and weight train.
“They did it on their own,” said Charlotte Hayward, who has two sons (Cameron and Connor) who play for the Steelers. She was also married to the late Craig “Ironhide” Heyward, an 11-year-old NFL veteran. “They don’t do it on the back of someone’s name. [Porter Jr.] He didn’t just go to Penn State, now he’s going to be recruited. He had to do the work and take it seriously because the NFL is very hard to get into.”
While Porter Sr. wants his son to stand on his own in the football world, it’s hard for NFL teams to talk to Porter the Younger without mentioning his dad.
“He probably grew up every meeting I was in,” Porter Jr. said, grinning at the gathering. Just, “How did you grow up with him?” how are you? Was he in your corner? Simple things just asked today. He grew up a lot. No big deal.”
It’s a phenomenon former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck understands well.
Growing up 45 minutes outside of Boston as the son of former New England Patriots Don Hasselbeck wasn’t easy. Although his father did not pressure his three sons to play football, the community around them expected big things from the Hasselbeck offspring.
“When I was in high school, everyone used to make fun of me because every time I did something like a game, I was in Boston Globe or the Boston Herald And they’d say, “He’s dead, son of former Patriot Don Hasselbeck,” Hasselbeck said, laughing. And like all my friends they would joke like, “Oh, I didn’t know your middle name was ‘Ex-Patriot Son Ishtah.'”
Now, the father of three is on the other side as his son Henry, who is also a quarterback, is entering his senior year at the same high school his father attended. But Hasselbeck said his son, who pitches for football despite a commitment to play lacrosse at Maryland, wasn’t bothered by the idle talk aimed at the family.
“He’s heard all the lines, whether it’s Instagram, Twitter or something else,” Hasselbeck said. “I’m sure a lot of kids in his situation probably feel the same way. They’re just like them, whatever. Maybe this next generation has a mental toughness we didn’t have before.”
After completing the file Coming into the 2021 season at Penn State with 51 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception on his way to third-team All-Big Ten, Porter Jr. felt ready to launch his professional career.
His parents disagreed.
“I wanted to leave last year, but it was hard,” Porter Jr. said at the gathering. “I had a difficult conversation with my dad, and they told me I wasn’t ready. I took that and listened to them because my dad had been there before.
“It definitely hurt. I didn’t want to hear that from my parents, but I knew it was from good intentions. And they were right because if I hadn’t done it, I don’t think I would be right in that situation right now.”
Porter Jr. earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in his final season at Penn State. He had a career-high 11 pass breakups and 3.7 yards off opponents on every attempt thrown in his direction tied for fourth-best in the FBS.
Now with an extra year of experience under his belt after returning for his redshirt rookie season, Porter Jr. feels more than ready to take on the same challenges his father prepared him to head into the recruiting.
“If a child isn’t wired properly, it can be challenging to meet their parents’ expectations,” an NFL scout told ESPN. “But if they get that far, they’re fine. Generally speaking, those who can’t handle it don’t make it to or beyond college.”
Porter Jr. has handled beyond expectation. He’s made a journey filled with immeasurable stress, and he may have had help from his father to get here, but he’s undoubtedly his own person.
“What you see there, how he plays, that’s him. That’s JJ. That’s Joey Jr,” said Porter Sr. “He’s going to make his name, and he’s going to add a legacy to the name with the things he can do and the things he’s going to do. It’s really his turn, and I’m sitting watching it.”