Thursday came and went and Joey Porter Jr.’s name wasn’t called in the first round. There wasn’t as much fanfare nor was he shown as much as former teammate Will Levis who was frequently shown after falling drastically out of the top-10.
What Porter has that Levis doesn’t is Joey Porter Sr. as his father.
Throughout the lead up to the draft Porter has been featured as part of ESPN’s Hey Rookie which profiles college football players as they prepare for the NFL Draft and draft night itself.
Though Thursday was filled with disappointment, his dad was right there when his emotions got the best of him and he needed consoled.
“Take it personal.”@joeyporterjr got a much-needed pep talk from dad after getting passed on in round one 😤 @Steelers
📺: Season Finale of #HeyRookie airs tonight 9pm ET on ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/kTvoxq8dvU
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) May 2, 2023
Here’s the conversation:
Porter Sr.: “There’s nothing like motivation, right? They want to see a pissed off football player. Now, they got one. You see what I’m sayin’? So now, follow me when I say, when I be giving you little nuggets about what we gotta do and how we gotta work. Just follow me because this will be part of the whole motivation now. Because, you know where you were supposed to have went and all that. We ain’t got control over that. That’s why I was trying to prepare you for anything ’cause I already know anything can happen. I know how these drafts go. But what I’m telling you is, now you’ve been motivated to another level. Because we’ve got something to prove.”
Porter Jr.: “Yeah.”
Porter Sr.: ‘Hell yeah. And take it personal. As you should. But you ain’t did nothing. You know what I’m saying? You did everything you were supposed to do. You ain’t letting nobody down here.”
It ultimately worked out rather well for Porter as he was selected with the first pick of the second round by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team he grew up watching his dad play and coach for.
While it remains to be seen how Porter will look as a professional, one thing is for certain: all the motivation he’s going to need is going to be right at home.
