The Daily OrangeQuinton Porter finds sanctuary on the field after his father's death this summer
By Chris Carlson
Posted: 10/16/03, 12:10 AM EST Section: Sports
In one day, Quinton Porter went from completely content to devastated.
On Feb. 15, Porter attended his older brother Luke's wedding in Portland, Maine. He was slated to begin his junior season as Boston College's starting quarterback. He had just finished making his first weekend trip home to Portland - a city he still praises for its small-town hospitality but endless entertainment opportunities - since Winter Break.
One day later he was driving back to Chestnut Hill, Mass., with his parents, Michael and Georgia, and his girlfriend. After stopping at a deli, his father complained of chest pains and blamed it on indigestion. His mother stepped into a grocery store to buy a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. Michael crumpled to the ground, holding his chest. Porter ran into the deli and screamed for an employee to dial 911. After an hour in the hospital, Michael Porter, 58, was pronounced dead.
"When he collapsed I could have almost reached out and caught him," Porter said. "That's how close I was. He died soon after the ambulance arrived."
"That was what bothered him the most," Georgia said. "He had that feeling that if he caught him, things would have been different."
For three weeks Porter stayed at his home in Portland and grieved for the man who had instilled in him a love for nature and Bob Dylan. He leafed through his father's collection of records, from obscure 1930s blues singer Blind Willie Johnson to The Clash and The Ramones.
Porter read through a poem his father had written, "Ghost," that he would later read at his memorial. And he shuffled through the rough draft of an unpublished book that his father hoped to write about Maine's swimming holes.
And then he started to rethink his entire life.
"He's a quiet person, he pretty much kept it to himself," center Chris Hathy said. "A bunch of us went to the funeral to support him, but he did most of it on his own."
His dad had been so proud of him when he earned that full scholarship to Boston College. He'd been to every game, both home and away. He'd sent him to high school summer camps at Kentucky, Purdue and Northwestern to build his reputation. And he was there in college, where Porter spent his first two seasons sitting behind quarterback Brian St. Pierre.
On Feb. 15, Porter attended his older brother Luke's wedding in Portland, Maine. He was slated to begin his junior season as Boston College's starting quarterback. He had just finished making his first weekend trip home to Portland - a city he still praises for its small-town hospitality but endless entertainment opportunities - since Winter Break.
One day later he was driving back to Chestnut Hill, Mass., with his parents, Michael and Georgia, and his girlfriend. After stopping at a deli, his father complained of chest pains and blamed it on indigestion. His mother stepped into a grocery store to buy a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. Michael crumpled to the ground, holding his chest. Porter ran into the deli and screamed for an employee to dial 911. After an hour in the hospital, Michael Porter, 58, was pronounced dead.
"When he collapsed I could have almost reached out and caught him," Porter said. "That's how close I was. He died soon after the ambulance arrived."
"That was what bothered him the most," Georgia said. "He had that feeling that if he caught him, things would have been different."
For three weeks Porter stayed at his home in Portland and grieved for the man who had instilled in him a love for nature and Bob Dylan. He leafed through his father's collection of records, from obscure 1930s blues singer Blind Willie Johnson to The Clash and The Ramones.
Porter read through a poem his father had written, "Ghost," that he would later read at his memorial. And he shuffled through the rough draft of an unpublished book that his father hoped to write about Maine's swimming holes.
And then he started to rethink his entire life.
"He's a quiet person, he pretty much kept it to himself," center Chris Hathy said. "A bunch of us went to the funeral to support him, but he did most of it on his own."
His dad had been so proud of him when he earned that full scholarship to Boston College. He'd been to every game, both home and away. He'd sent him to high school summer camps at Kentucky, Purdue and Northwestern to build his reputation. And he was there in college, where Porter spent his first two seasons sitting behind quarterback Brian St. Pierre.
