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NOT QUITE THE NEXT LEVEL [FONT=Arial Narrow,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] Juan Porter never made it in the NFL, but this is his ninth pro season [/FONT]
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By David Niven / February 9, 2006
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Jef Vidmar [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] "It's fun to be back in Columbus": Porter at a Destroyers' practice in the Columbus FieldHouse [/FONT]
When Eddie George won the 1995 Heisman Trophy, Juan Porter was one of his blockers. The season after that, in his final game as a Buckeye, Porter helped Ohio State secure its only Rose Bowl victory since 1974. He still remembers the Rose Bowl as a storybook finish to his college career.
"It was just the greatest experience of my life. It was beautiful."
A team captain and an all-Big Ten center, Porter routinely played in front of 90,000 fans. As he sees it, there was no better place to play college football.
"Shoot," he said, "it's basically the cradle of football."
Since leaving the cradle in 1997, however, Porter has lived the nomadic life of professional football's netherworld.
Undrafted by the NFL, he signed as a free agent with the New England Patriots. The Pats, then coached by Pete Carroll, cut Porter from the active roster but signed him to the practice squad. Much like redshirt players in college, practice-squad players cannot play in regular season games. They don't travel with the regulars and often watch their own team's games on television.
Porter jumped to the Washington Redskins' practice squad in 1999 and then played one season in NFL Europe, helping the Frankfurt Galaxy win the league championship.
In 2001, he played for the New York/New Jersey Hitmen in the inaugural and only season of the XFL, the football league founded by the people behind the World Wrestling Federation.
That same year, Porter made his debut in the Arena Football League, which has established itself as a successful off-season replacement for the NFL. Despite that success, though, the AFL's Columbus Destroyers, now in their third year, have had little luck putting former Buckeyes on the field.
When former OSU coach Earle Bruce was coaching the Destroyers two years ago, he groused that ex-Buckeyes all think they're NFL material—and they'd rather sit out of football altogether than play arena ball.
Juan Porter is an exception. Now 32, Porter is playing his sixth season in the league and his first with the Destroyers.
Run, Forrest!
A good number of the 12,000-plus fans who attended the Destroyers' season-opening win in Nationwide Arena might logically conclude the team practices there, perfecting the sport's frenetic plays between its logo-adorned end zones.
In fact, the Destroyers huddle inside the Columbus FieldHouse Athletic Center at the Continent, a stone's throw from I-71 and state Route 161. They practice on a field turned sideways within a long, cavernous building. It's a mini-version of the already miniaturized arena football field.
Though team practices are open to the public, there was only one visitor at last Thursday's session.
"Can I help you, sir?" asked Mark Lewis, a third-year player out of Florida International University. When not greeting guests, Lewis is the team's kicker. The field, though too small to accommodate a full-length kick, does have goal posts. More precisely, it has strips of yellow tape on a wall to indicate how far apart goal posts would be.
The sideline of the field is marked by a 4-foot high inflatable barrier that looks like something you might want to rent for children's parties.
The end zones have no inflatable cushion, just thinly padded metal walls. Receiver Eddie Galles, a rookie out of Northern Iowa, was abruptly reminded of this when he caught a deep pass and made the ill-advised decision to keep running.
"Run, Forrest!" one of his more cinematically literate teammates yelled just before Galles collided with the wall. After the impact, young Galles's teammate muttered, "He's got to be the dumbest ass out here."
Juan Porter cycled on and off the field throughout the session, wearing a No. 91 practice jersey—despite the fact he wears 95 during games.
Because most arena players are required to play both ways, Porter took turns on both the offensive and defensive line. Given the nature of the arena game, which limits blitzing and other tactics the defense might use to actually prevent scoring, the job of arena linemen consists largely of contesting territory about the size of a bathtub.
A far cry from the pampered millionaires at the sport's next level, Porter and his teammates go about their business at the Continent with an appealing mix of earnestness and goofiness. After running back Harold Wells, a rookie from Gardner-Webb University, took a running play in the wrong direction, Destroyers quarterback John Kaleo, a 13-year arena league veteran, winced.
"Harold, Harold, Harold," Kaleo said plaintively, "that can't happen in the game."
Some distance away, a gaggle of players busied themselves with a discussion of the fashion decisions of football stars. It culminated in the declaration that TV analyst and former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin is a fashion leader.
Or, as one Destroyer said of Irvin's wardrobe, "That shit was hot."
Happy to be here
Porter is excited to be playing for the Destroyers, who are among the league's leaders in attendance.
"I've been everywhere," he said, "but it's definitely fun to be back in Columbus. These fans are crazy for football. If they played these games outside in the parking lot, it would probably still be packed."
Although there are other former Buckeyes in the arena league, including Joe Germaine, Winfield Garnett and Porter's cousin Eric Gohlstin, they all play elsewhere.
"Originally, I was kind of surprised they didn't have more Buckeyes," Porter said. "What can you say? I guess a lot of guys went in the NFL and are still there."
Before arena ball, Porter hadn't played on the defensive side of the ball since high school.
"It's very exhausting. You're going out there and you're blocking for the passer. Then you've got to turn right around and rush the passer," he said.
"Arena football is basketball on turf. There's a lot of hitting, a lot of scoring, and it's definitely fast—faster than the outdoor game. Everything happens just so fast."
The sub debate
Throughout practice, there were reminders of arena players' relative place on football's economic ladder. The base salary in arena football is $26,352, although players recently won year-round health benefits.
Between plays, a debate raged over the relative merits of Subway and Jersey Mike's. The matter was settled when one player pointed out that at Subway, "You can get two foot-long subs for, like, eight bucks if you hit the special."
Later, word spread that paychecks would be handed out after practice. Kaleo rallied the troops with a chant: "It's payday. It's payday."
A teammate joked, "You know you can't cash the check until next month."
Toward the end of practice, several players gathered around a professional photographer to admire his camera.
"How much did this cost?" asked one player.
"Do you have insurance on this?" asked another.
Porter, like most of his teammates, works during the off-season to supplement his arena football salary. Unlike most of them, he's done multiple stints as a substitute teacher.
"When most substitute teachers come in, kids think, 'I've got a free day,'" Porter said. "Work comes first in my class."
Porter has taught all age groups, but he prefers high school students.
"Fifth graders are pretty tough," said the 6-4, 310-pound lineman. "They're not afraid of anything."
As practice ended, someone pulled the plug to let the air out of the inflatable sideline barrier, and the coaches began rolling it up for safe storage. Players helped carry some of the equipment back to the Destroyers' offices at the opposite end of the building.
Porter said he's thinking about "a lot of different things" for his future. He figures coaching or education might be next.
"It was great," Porter said of his football days. Then he caught himself.
"It still is great."
