A Look At New Orleans Saints Secondary: Tracy Porter
“Mr. Pick 6”, “The Hero of Super Bowl 44″, and my personal favorite, ” Legend Killer”. These are a few of the nicknames bestowed upon New Orleans Saints Cornerback Tracy Porter. One title that a few fans, this writer being one, thinks that should have been given to Tracy Porter was one given to Drew Brees: Super Bowl MVP. But before we get into that, let’s take a look at Tracy Porter and his journey to New Orleans.
Tracy Porter started off humbly raised in Port Allen, LA. where he played football at Port Allen High. As a Port Allen Pelican, Porter played Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver, and Cornerback. It would be the last position, Cornerback, for which Porter would be known for.
As a Hoosier, Porter would finish second in school history with 16 interceptions and first in interception return yards (413). He would also be the first player in school history to return a punt, fumble, and interception for touchdowns. It seems Porter had plenty of “Hoosier moments”. He would finish his career at Indiana and begin another journey that would lead him full circle back to Louisiana.
With an impressive showing at the NFL Combine, Porter was drafted with the 40th pick in the Second Round by the Saints in the 2008 NFL Draft. He would start 5 games as a rookie with 25 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 interception before dislocating his wrist landing on injured reserve. Porter would come back strong the following year for what Who Dat Nation would call, “Our Season”.
Porter would make a big impact in the 2009-2010 season. In Week 7 against the Miami Dolphins, he tipped a pass that Safety Darren Sharper would recover for an interception he returned for a touchdown. Late in the 4th Quarter, Porter would have one of his own as he intercepted Dolphins’ Quarterback Chad Henne and returned it for a touchdown. Porter would continue this trend in the Saints “March to Miami”.
He would be a force in the 2010 NFC Championship Game verses the Minnesota Vikings. A back and forth battle the entire game, Porter would made two key plays that would help lead the Saints to victory. One being a forced fumble against Vikings Wide Receiver Bernard Berrian that the Saints went on to recover in the 4th Quarter. The second being the one that would begin to earn him the name, ” Legend Killer”.
With under a minute left in the 4th Quarter and the score tied, Vikings Quarterback Brett Farve was driving his team down the field to a likely field goal attempt to win the game. Struggling to find a receiver Farve threw across his body to Vikings Wide Receiver Sidney Rice. However, Porter stepped in front of Rice and intercepted the pass to kill the drive.
To add insult to injury after the play, Porter would imitate Vikings Defensive End Jared Allen’s “Calf Roping” sack celebration with much gusto. I won’t lie to you and say I didn’t jump up and down as they showed Farve’s look of disgust as well as Allen’s. The game went to overtime and the Saints would be the one’s to benefit from a game winning field goal kick by Garrett Hartley. Onto Miami, and another legend soon to be destroyed.