An overnight legend

Tracy Porter was never supposed to be famous.

Unranked by Rivals coming out of high school, he was considered too soft and not a big enough hitter to play on the big stage. He played at IU, a school not known for its football program.

And, despite a strong senior season in which he had 6 interceptions and helped his Hoosiers get to the 2007 Insight Bowl, he slipped to the second round of the NFL Draft.

Now, everyone know’s Porter’s name.

With just over 3 minutes remaining in Super Bowl XLIV, Porter jumped in front of an Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning pass and sprinted 74 yards to pay dirt.

His touchdown put the New Orleans Saints up 31-17, a final score that will forever be etched as New Orleans’ first-ever world championship. Porter had 16 interceptions in his time at IU and has 5 in his two-year NFL career, but none will measure up to the one he grabbed in Miami on Sunday night.

It now puts him in the same category as Joe Montana and Adam Vinatieri: Super Bowl clincher.

His hand motion instituted on the Memorial Stadium field, where he threw his open palms into the air before clenching his fists and thrust them back to his chest, is still used by defensive players and students when a stop has to be made.

His name will forever come up in conversations when scouting a potential defensive back.

“Yes, he’s good, but is he the new Tracy Porter?” IU students and alumni will ask.
“I bet Tracy Porter would have made that play,” they will prognosticate.

But this is IU. In a basketball-crazy town, it’s not hard to memorialize a football player as the best to ever the Bloomington campus.

His Super Bowl interception, though, makes him a national legend. Saints quarterback Drew Brees was named the game’s MVP, but it will be Porter’s play that will be Super Bowl XLIV’s most-run highlight.

For Colts fans, it’s devastating. For Hoosier fans, it’s mesmerizing.

For Tracy Porter, it’s immortality.