Former CSU football standout Joey Porter, now an undergraduate assistant coach for the Rams, will be inducted into the Colorado State Athletics Hall of Fame along with five other former CSU athletes on Friday at the Annual Hall of Fame Banquet.
“It’s definitely a great honor of being recognized to be in the hall of fame of any school. I was in my high school hall of fame (and) now I’m making my college hall of fame,” Porter said. “This is the school I played at, I’m a CSU guy, I love CSU and now being a part of the hall of fame, it speaks volumes about how they feel like I played the game when I was here.”
Ad
Porter played for CSU from 1995-98 and racked up 20 sacks as a defensive end for the Rams under former coach Sonny Lubick. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1999 NFL draft and went on to play 13 seasons in the league. He won one Super Bowl with the Steelers before playing for the Miami Dolphins and ending his career with the Arizona Cardinals after the 2011 season.
In 2005, Porter donated $200,000 to CSU to renovate the Rams football locker room which was then named after him.
Porter will be inducted along with former CSU quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt who played for the Rams from 2001-03. Van Pelt holds the CSU record for total yards with 8,579 and in 2004 he was drafted by the Denver Broncos.
“I love the fact that I get to go in with Bradlee Van Pelt because he definitely did a lot for CSU,” Porter said. “I didn’t get to play with Bradlee but I got to watch him play and I followed his career. There are a lot of guys that are going to be coming on that (hall of fame) list because there are a lot of good CSU football players who came through here.”
Along with Porter and Van Pelt, the 2013 Hall of Fame class will include Marne Richardson for track and cross country (1994-99), Willis Holland for wrestling (1953-56), Ralph Hutton for swimming (1968-71) and Allison Peckham for volleyball (1998-2001).
Friday’s banquet will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel in Fort Collins. All of the athletes will also be recognized during halftime of CSU’s game against Boise State on Saturday at Hughes Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. MT.
Football Beat Reporter Katie O’Keefe can be reached at sports@collegian.com.
