When coach David Braun heard his son Andrew wanted to be graduate student running back Cam Porter for Halloween, he knew it extended far beyond Porter’s presence on the gridiron.
“Andrew didn’t do that just because Cam’s a really good football player,” Braun said. “He sees things in Cam Porter that he aspires to be, in terms of just (a) great teammate, work ethic, the ultimate competitor.”
As his five seasons at Northwestern are nearing their end with his final regular season game Saturday against Illinois, Cam Porter said a sense of finality has crept into the back of his mind.
The captain added that he’s taking in every last moment as he looks to maximize his final days with the Wildcats.
“Realized that this was going to be one of the last times I step out on a Tuesday practice with my teammates at Northwestern University, so it is definitely a bittersweet moment,” Porter told The Daily on Tuesday. “But it truly is a blessing.”
Porter has racked up more than 2,000 all-purpose yards and 18 touchdowns in his collegiate career, but the journey has been far from linear for the Cincinnati native.
Porter sustained a lower-body injury that forced him to miss the entirety of the 2021 season, and he worked his way back into the limelight as the backup to Evan Hull in 2022.
“I feel like everything happens for a reason, you know, good and bad, and it’s up to you to kind of figure out what was the reason,” Porter said. “So (I’m) thankful for my injuries. I’m thankful for my setbacks, because it just helped me reveal who I really am and helped me find myself, not only on the field but outside of the sport as well.”
Porter said his faith has grown significantly as he has navigated the ups and downs of college football.
The veteran tailback has also embraced his role as one of NU’s leaders. He said he’s grown significantly as a player his teammates can look toward for advice and guidance on a day-to-day basis.
In keeping with that theme of growth, Porter emphasized that one of the biggest lessons he has learned in his college career is to “trust the process.”
“We have so much anxiety about the future that we don’t take advantage of the present,” Porter said. “That’s why they call it the present — because it’s a gift.”
With the myriad of knowledge and wisdom he has gained over the last five years, Porter does not take his leadership role on and off the field lightly.
This summer, Braun named Porter a captain and gave him one of the program’s highest honors: the No. 1 jersey.
“It’s everything — coming into the program as a freshman, you see some of the best leaders wearing No. 1,” Porter said.
Having fulfilled that honor this season and imprinted himself on his teammates, Porter said he hopes he was someone his teammates could consistently lean on in difficult times.
While he is grateful to have had the opportunity to lead such a young running back room, Porter said his peers in his position room are” mature in their own right,” and his stature as the group’s leader is simply “a blessing.”
Even with all his success on the field, Porter said his coaches have been paramount in crafting him into the player he is today. He added that he is especially grateful for the relationships he has built with Braun and running backs coach Chris Foster.
“Just gonna play my heart out for them one last time for them on Saturday,” Porter said of Foster and Braun.
Since Saturday is likely his last game donning purple and white, Porter is embracing the journey’s end.
“(I’m) trying to be as present as possible, trying to be where my feet are at,” he said. “But it’s definitely going to hit me when I hit the locker room and I walk out on that field.”
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