Call it ESPN meets “Extreme Makeover.’
Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter is giving Colorado State $200,000 to help update the football team’s antiquated practice locker rooms in Moby Arena, the school announced Thursday.
Frustrated by years of hiding the locker room from recruits and a slow fundraising effort, all coach Sonny Lubick had to do was ask his former player.
“You could hear in the tone of his voice how much he wanted to give back to CSU,’ Lubick said.
Porter will underwrite half the $400,000 renovation, which is targeted for completion in August for two-a-days. Several donors have pledged the remaining half.
“The way I always looked at it, if there was no Colorado State, there would be no Joey Porter where he is today,’ said Porter, who will attend Saturday’s spring game. “This ties me with CSU forever.’
It will be named The Joey Porter Locker Room when a players’ lounge, air conditioning and shower area overhaul are complete.
“When Coach told me about it, I thought it was an honor for him to even ask me for something,’ Porter said. “It’s an opportunity for me to help out CSU, which has done so much for me.’
It took Porter a few years to understand why CSU coaches didn’t want him or his teammates to take any other recruiting trips.
“After I had seen other schools, when we went to play them, then I realized we didn’t have the best facilities,’ Porter said.
“We’re still using that trick, Joey,’ Lubick said during a teleconference. “It’s the best in the book.’
When the McGraw Athletic Center opened in 1999, other CSU teams received new locker rooms but football received only cosmetic changes.
CSU offensive coordinator Dan Hammerschmidt said the current “players lounge’ consists of a three-legged couch propped up by a paint can, adding that it collapses if an offensive lineman sits down.
Porter, who signed a six-year, $22.5 million deal in 2002, was a third-round draft pick by the Steelers in 1999. He was named to his second Pro Bowl last season as one of the leaders of a defense that ranked first in the NFL.
His agent, Jeff Sperbeck, said this week Porter “hasn’t forgotten about CSU. He’s one of the most giving people to all his friends and family.’
