How Seth Porter went from overlooked football walk-on to team captain at Kansas State

Seth Porter was the epitome of an unknown football player when he first arrived at Kansas State five years ago.

He was walk-on receiver from Friendswood, Texas. He stood 5-foot-7 and weighed 152 pounds. Other than having a family link to the Wildcats (his father was a kicker from 1985 to 88) there was no reason for casual fans to remember his name.

So how did he become a scholarship player and a team captain for the Wildcats as he enters his sixth and final season of college football?

Chris Klieman is glad you asked. He has a story about Porter that explains why his teammates were so eager to vote him as a captain this year.

It goes like this: The first day of summer workouts is hard for everyone on the K-State football roster, but it can feel impossible for newcomers. Strength and conditioning coach Trumain Carroll has an extremely demanding warm-up routine that features a series of complicated stretches. Anyone who does them incorrectly must perform up-downs.

After doing his fair share of those in the past, Porter decided he wanted a different fate for K-State’s newest freshman class when June rolled around.

“Seth sent a note out to all of them and said, ‘Come up to the weight room. I’m taking you through the stretch so you don’t screw it up for us, because if you’re doing up-downs we’re all doing up-downs,” Klieman said. “That is a small thing that Seth would do as an unselfish kid to make sure that we start teaching these guys, right now, how to do it the K-State way.”

Needless to say, Klieman was glad to hear that Porter was named a captain along with Will Howard, Cooper Beebe, Hayden Gillum, Austin Moore, Daniel Green and Kobe Savage.

“He has earned that right,” Klieman said.

Going out of his way to help K-State’s newest batch of players is just one way that Porter has proven himself as a leader for the Wildcats.

He has transformed his body in college and is now up to 5-8 and 170 pounds. He has also become a valuable player on special teams. Last year, he played in all 14 games and led the Wildcats with nine tackles on punts and kickoff coverage. Furthermore, he blocked a punt against South Dakota that led to a touchdown return.

Porter is once again expected to be a candidate for MVP on special teams, but he may finally also be ready to contribute on offense. The experience and speed that Porter brings to the field makes him a strong candidate to catch passes behind Keagan Johnson, R.J. Garcia and Phillip Brooks this year.

“It’s been quite the journey,” K-State center Hayden Gillum said.

Gillum remembers when he was also a walk-on for the Wildcats. He spent a lot of time with Porter back then and could see how excited he was to wear purple on Saturdays, even if he was looking at a long path to playing time.

“He was just excited to be here,” Gillum said. “It meant the world to him.”

That enthusiasm fueled his football career to where it is now. Even when he was a member of the scout team as a freshman he found so many ways to help the Wildcats that he was named co-winner of the group’s Red Raider Award, which goes to the top contributor on the scout squad.

He is still making an impact. But now more people are beginning to notice.

“You can tell he cares about the university as a whole,” Garcia said. “Being a kid from Florida you don’t really know how much people really love Kansas State, and he embodies that every single day. It is a blessing to have him back. He is one of my favorite guys on the team and I am excited he gets to be a captain, because he definitely deserves it. He is one of the hardest workers on our whole team.”