Joey Porter Jr. gets first NFL pick, gifts ball to dad

PITTSBURGH — After sprinting to the end zone alongside his teammates with his intercepted ball in hand, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. scanned the lower bowl at Acrisure Stadium for his dad.

But Joey Porter Sr. was nowhere in sight.

Porter Jr. put the ball down and went back to the sideline with his teammates. A few minutes later, he got a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw his dad making his way down the stairs toward the railing of the lower bowl with a wide grin on his face.

“He was all the way up there in the nosebleeds,” Porter Jr. said. “So when he finally came down, I got the ball back and I gave it to him.”

Porter Jr., who tossed his dad the ball before shaking his hand, had only one interception in college at Penn State. He tried to give that one to his mom at the time, but it didn’t end up going home with them. And while his dad has his ball from Saturday night now, Porter Jr. isn’t sure if his ball will end up with the rest of the family’s memorabilia — or if his dad will want the next one, too.

“It’s the preseason,” Porter Jr. said. “It’s my first one though, so he probably won’t let me keep that one. He’s probably going to want one in the regular season.”

After being sidelined with an injury for the first preseason game, Porter Jr. made a splash in his debut in Saturday night’s 27-15 preseason win against the Buffalo Bills.

Porter Jr. easily intercepted backup quarterback Matt Barkley on a pass intended for receiver Khalil Shakir late in the second quarter.

“It was perfect, especially first one back at home,” said Porter Jr., who went to high school in the Pittsburgh area. “I never played at Heinz Field before, so it was great for me to be out there with the guys running around, and I got my first pick. It was perfect.”

Two decades earlier, Porter Sr., who won Super Bowl XL with the Steelers, got his first regular-season interception in the same stadium — a pair of picks against the then-Oakland Raiders in Week 2 — en route to his first Pro Bowl season.

As a preseason interception, Porter Jr.’s pick won’t make the 2023 official stats, but the moment can still serve as a launch pad for his rookie year.

“I told him today, you don’t have to do anything outside of your body or do anything spectacular,” veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson said. “Just be where you’re supposed to be, and the ball will find you, and I’ll be doggone the ball found him.

“Great play for him. A great play boost for him. I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do after this.”