Porter can see things from both sides now
Stony Brook defensive back Donald Porter takes down Albany wide receiver Nick Hutcherson. (Nov. 26, 2011) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Even as he prepared for Saturday afternoon's game against Sam Houston in Huntsville, Texas, in the second round of the FCS playoffs, Stony Brook cornerback Donald Porter still was giddy about deflecting a pass and setting up a game-saving interception in the end zone by teammate Dominick Reyes against Albany a week ago.
"That's something me and Dom will be talking about forever,'' he said. "We'll be telling it to our grandkids. It was the best thing I had ever gone through in a football sense. Amazing.''
That signature play of Porter's college career carries quite a back story. Porter, from Charles Town, W.Va., was a wide receiver who also returned kicks and punts in his first three Stony Brook seasons. Catching the ball was his first love. "I used to run routes, my dad used to throw the ball,'' he said. His father, also named Donald, was in Jets camp in 1984, a Jets spokesman said.
But needing speed at cornerback, SBU coach Chuck Priore switched Porter to defense for the 2010 season. "I think there was a little bit of resistance in his mind early, going to the unknown,'' Priore said. Porter was not so much upset as confused, saying, "Here I'm thinking I'm one of the best receivers.'' He had led the receivers with 476 yards in his junior year of 2009.
It all came crashing down in the second quarter of the first game against South Florida when Porter suffered a severe knee injury. "I tore my ACL, LCL and had a microfracture,'' he said. "I was in a very bad place in my mind because I was like, 'Well, they switch me to D-back and now I'm hurt.' I still didn't understand to that point why I was moved. I thought I was pretty much done'' with college football.
He was feeling low until Priore told him, "Well, we get another year back at it again,'' Porter recalled. "He shook my hand and smiled at me. I smiled, too. It was a great feeling.''
After intense rehabilitation, Porter returned this season as a graduate student and embraced the position he once disliked. He has six interceptions, ranking sixth in the FCS. "Now,'' he said, "I love playing in the backfield.''
He even covers his father in pickup games. "I can definitely cover my dad now,'' he said, laughing. "He's 55 years old with two replaced hips.''
