Joey Porter Jr. to honor father’s former Steelers teammate with new jersey number

The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ made their fans quite happy with the first pick of the second round, as they took the son of franchise legend Joey Porter. Former Penn State defensive back Joey Porter Jr. was a First Team All-Big Ten player in 2022, and was the team’s defensive MVP after recording 11 passes defended. He shined wearing No. 9 in college, but is changing his jersey number for the next level.

Porter plans to wear No. 24 in the NFL, in honor of his father’s former Steelers teammate, defensive back Ike Taylor. Taylor revealed this to Dave Dameshek on the “Minus Three Podcast.”

“Joey Porter Sr., was like, ‘He’s going to wear that 2-4 in honor of Uncle Ike.’ I was like, ‘Oh, hell yeah,'” Taylor said, via Pro Football Talk. “When I saw that this morning in the group text, I was like, that’s pretty damn cool.”

Taylor played for the Steelers from 2003-14, and was a member of both the Super Bowl XL and XLIII championship teams. In 174 career games, Taylor recorded 14 interceptions and 134 passes defended. In Super Bowl XL, he recorded two passes defended and an interception in the 21-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks. After that game, Porter was photographed holding his son in his right arm 

Porter and Taylor created quite a legacy during their time with the Steelers. Now, it’s Porter Jr.’s turn.

“It’s going to bring my flavor to it,” Porter said, via WPXI’s Jenna Harner. “It’s me, it’s not him. He understands that it’s my time to shine. He did what he had to do, and it’s my time right now. I’m going to get my fans’ attention with that. I’m going to play hard ball.”