Joey Porter Jr. is blazing his own path to the 2023 NFL draft

The person on the other end of the line paused as he answered the phone.

"This is Joey Porter," he said, adding after a beat, "Senior."

Once the only Joey Porter in the NFL world, Porter Sr. now is watching his son, Joey Porter Jr., make the name his own as a potential first-round pick in the NFL draft later this month.

"It's fun," Porter Jr. said with a laugh about sharing his name. "I got used to it."

To avoid confusion at home, Porter Jr. goes by JJ to friends and family.

But on the field, there's no mistaking Porter Jr. for his dad. Both are tall at nearly 6-foot-3, but as an NFL outside linebacker for 13 seasons, Porter Sr. played at a solid 248 pounds, while his son is a rangy cornerback weighing 193 pounds with a broad 81-inch wingspan that makes him one of the top prospects in this year's class.

As a press cornerback, he ranks No. 17 overall on Mel Kiper's Big Board and comes in at No. 3 in Matt Miller's ranking of the cornerback class.

Porter Jr. joins Paris Johnson Jr. -- whose dad was an Arizona Cardinals fifth-round pick in 1999 -- as one of the two prospects in this year's draft with first-round projections whose father played in the NFL, representing the growing number of second-generation players in the league.

In 2021, 3.4% of NFL players were second-generation players, an increase from 1.8% in 2001 and 1.0% in 1981.

For Porter Jr. and the other legacy players, joining the family business is a double-edged sword, because for as many advantages that come with growing up around the game, there's also the inevitable pressure of living up to a name dripping with preconceived expectations.

"It's hard because your dad's made so many big plays. He's done so many big things in this league already, and the football world is so small," said recently signed Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., son of nine-year NFL veteran Orlando Brown Sr. "... I see other guys -- juniors or seconds -- doing it, I'm just like, 'Man, hats off to you because it's not easy growing up, having to dive in and play football."

Still, the pressure isn't stopping Porter Jr. from taking over his father's game and molding his own narrative as he prepares for the draft.

"People are always gonna make comparisons," Porter Jr. said. "I have my name, and he has his name.

"I just do what I love to do, and that's play football."

IT'S RARE FOR Porter Sr. to talk 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 for lack of being asked.

"I don't (do interviews) because it's his journey and his time," Porter Sr. said. "I don't ever wanna make the situation about me because it's not, it's about him."

Porter Sr. doesn't want his All-Pro career casting a long shadow over his oldest son's accomplishments.

Porter Sr. is busy as his son prepares for the draft, in the midst of his first season as the linebackers coach of the XFL's San Antonio Brahmas. That means he's been pretty hands off with Porter Jr.'s pre-draft process, but that's not unlike the approach he's taken throughout his son's football career as Porter Sr. encourages his namesake to forge his own path.

"Sometimes I get to talk to him before (the visit), sometimes I don't," Porter Sr. said. "It's not really anything I have to prepare him for in that situation, because at this point in time all you have to do is just go in there and be you, be a good person. Let them see that."

Porter Sr. isn't worried about his son because he's been preparing him for these moments his whole life. There's no need to cram for the test when every day was a study in how to be a professional.

Born a year after Porter Sr. was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1999 draft, Porter Jr. grew up in locker rooms and on sidelines. When Porter Jr. was 7, his dad signed a five-year deal with the Dolphins and spent three seasons in Miami, followed by a two-year stint with the Arizona Cardinals before he retired. Then, he returned to the Steelers for five seasons as a general defensive assistant and linebackers coach.

"I feel like it's a big advantage," Porter Jr. said. "Not too many people have people in their family that have done it before. So the fact that he has, and he'll be in my corner and has saved me from bumping my head on certain instances. It's big to me and I definitely use him a lot."

WHILE HIS DAD chased 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 & Girls Club. He also earned a spot as one of the Steelers' ball boys, giving him more glimpses at life as a professional football player, including testing his abilities against some of the members of the team.

"I remember as a young kid, I did one-on-ones with