Joey Porter Sr. Claims Steelers “Held Us Down,” Celebrates Cowboys Win

Joey Porter Jr . made his debut with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and helped them register a 34-30 come-from-behind victory against C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans . Porter hadn't played a single snap through the first three weeks of the season and had only a couple of practice days with his new team. But he played 25 defensive snaps vs. the Texans and wasn't targeted while lining up across from Nico Collins , Jaylin Noel and Dalton Schultz .

His debut ended a strange storyline involving a contract dispute with the  Pittsburgh Steelers  and a back injury. The Steelers  traded their young cornerback to the Cowboys in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick last week. And as soon as Porter landed in Dallas, he was ready to rock, new contract or not.

Porter's father, Joey Porter Sr., is, of course, a Steelers legend who spent eight seasons donning the black and yellow. However, he's now ditched the Steelers gear for Cowboys gear. Porter Sr. was in attendance at the Cowboys' huge win in Houston, and he posted a video on Instagram celebrating that he can watch his son play football again.

"I almost forgot what it's like walking through a hostile environment on game day," Porter Sr. said. "They tried to take me away from football for four weeks. I forgot what it feel like. I forgot how intense it gets. It feel like I'm back at home. Walking into a hostile environment. Football is back. They held us down for three weeks; they couldn't hold us down no longer, man."

Who is "they?" One could assume that's the Steelers.

> View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joey Porter (@jportersr55)

It was a thrilling first game for the Porter family, as the Cowboys erased a double-digit deficit in the second half to move to .500. Dak Prescott led an 11-play, 74-yard drive in the fourth quarter, and found CeeDee Lamb on the game-winning touchdown with 40 seconds remaining.

It's been a long road for Porter, who, while he found a change of scenery, is still looking for that next contract. He said he " definitely felt disrespected and undervalued" toward the end of his time in Pittsburgh, but it's all about ball right now.

"Bet on myself. I feel like at the end of the day, you got to always have that in yourself," Porter Jr. said of his 2026 mindset. "Just choose you at the end of the day, and that's what I'm doing."

The Cowboys hope Porter will provide a major boost to a defense that has disappointed up to this point. His 48.1% career completion percentage allowed ranks fourth-lowest in the NFL since he entered the league in 2023 among players with at least 150 passes thrown their way.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/joey-porter-sr-says-steelers-held-us-down-for-three-weeks-cowboys/)._