Joey Porter Jr.

Porter Jr. attended North Catholic High School in Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania before transferring to North Allegheny Senior High School in Wexford, Pennsylvania.[1] He played cornerback and wide receiver in high school. He committed to Penn State to play college football.[2]

In his first year at Penn State in 2019, Porter Jr. played in four games and had three tackles. In 2020, he started all eight games recording 33 tackles and one sack.[3][4] In 2021, he started all 13 games and had 50 tackles and one interception.

Porter Jr. was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft. The Steelers obtained the second round pick from the Chicago Bears in a mid-season trade for Chase Claypool, which turned out to be the first pick of the 2nd round due to the Bears finishing with the NFL's worst record in 2022.[6] The pick was reportedly sought after by several teams and the Steelers, according to ESPN's Mike Greenberg, asking for a "king's ransom" for the pick that was the equivalent of the last pick in the first round any other year and was dropped to the 2nd round due to the Miami Dolphins forfeiting a first round pick due to tampering with Tom Brady.[7][8] Steelers general manager Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin later confirmed the trade offers, but after selecting Broderick Jones with their first round pick to shore up their offensive line were surprised to see Porter still available and refused all trade offers; Porter had gone to high school with Tomlin's sons and Tomlin & Joey Porter are longtime friends, with the younger Porter having served as a ball boy with the Steelers while his dad was the team's outside linebackers coach and having played against Antonio Brown running routes in practice.[9][10] The pick was announced by the senior Porter's former teammate Alan Faneca.[7]

Porter had attended the NFL Draft's first round in Kansas City and was in the green room waiting to be called, but opted to go back to his family's home in Pittsburgh's North Hills after the first round ended and had just gotten home when a 412 number showed up on his phone, confirming the team's selection. Porter promptly went to the team's headquarters on the South Side and said during an impromptu press conference that being passed up in the first round by every team including the Steelers will "motivate him for his entire career".[11]

He is the son of Joey Porter, a former NFL linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins, and Arizona Cardinals.[12]

• Joey Porter Jr. on Twitter
• Penn State Nittany Lions bio