Blue White Illustrated

| H I S T O R Y ith Stefen Wisniewski becom- ing the latest former Penn State football player to play in the Super Bowl, it has been natural to focus on his bloodline as a member of one of the team's foremost legacy recruit fam- ilies. His father, Leo, and uncle Steve pre- ceded him, becoming standouts for coach Joe Paterno in the early to mid-1980s, and Stefen followed in the latter 2000s. What makes the Wisniewski family dif- ferent than many of their legacy recruit peers is their spiritual or religious public life. It's one that Leo now leads with a ministry and missionary organization he created called Locking Arms Men that in- cludes Steve and Stefen in some areas. In- jecting religion into the sports environment can become controversial in the political climate of this era, and Leo is aware of that. "When people use the word religion, they tend to think of the formal structure of the church and adherence to com- mandments and church doctrine and things like that," he said. "Locking Arms Men is a registered nonprofit organization based in Pittsburgh that seeks to help men strengthen a personal relationship with God through the Bible. We are build- ing a spiritual community of men cen- tered in the truth of God's word and focused on loving one another and serv- ing the poor." It shouldn't be surprising to Penn State fans, even to those who are agnostic or atheistic, to learn that many Nittany Lion players past and present are religious. The Wisniewskis have simply made it a more public focal point of their lives, and that is rare among the dozens of legacy recruit families. The term "legacy recruit" is relatively new, created by the media to define prog- eny who played football at Penn State, but it now extends to all sports and includes women. The tradition dates to the 1920s. The Wisniewskis certainly rank near the top in status for what Leo, Steve and Stefen accomplished at Penn State and beyond. Leo, a starting defensive tackle for two and a half years, developed into an hon- orable mention All-American in 1981 and was the outstanding defensive player in the Nittany Lions' 26-10 victory over Southern Cal in the 1982 Fiesta Bowl. Steve was a two-time first-team All- American (1987-88) in his three years as a starting offensive guard, which in- cluded the 1986 national championship season. Since 2010, he has been on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame. As for Stefen, after becoming one of the few true freshman offensive line- men to start for Paterno, he went on to become a first-team All-American in 2010. However, Stefen surpassed his kin- folk in the classroom as a three-time Ac- ademic All-American with a 3.9 GPA. That accomplishment helped him earn an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. "At some time in the future I will [use that to] pursue a seminary degree," Stefen said. In 1982, Leo became the 28th overall player taken in the NFL Draft, going in the second round to the Baltimore Colts, and he made the prestigious Pro Football Writers Association's 24-man All-Rookie team as one of two defensive tackles. He continued as the Colts' starting nose tackle for the next two years, but an ACL injury in his right knee put an end to his pro career before the 1986 season. Steve was drafted early in the second round in 1989, going 29th overall to Dal- las, but about 10 minutes later the Cow- boys traded him to the Los Angeles Raiders. After also being chosen for the PFWA All-Rookie team, Steve evolved into an eight-time Pro Bowl selection in his 13 seasons as a starting guard for the Raiders, and for the past two years he has been on the initial nomination list for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. When Stefen entered the NFL Draft in 2011, the Raiders grabbed him in the sec- ond round as the 49th overall pick. After starting at guard as a rookie, he moved to center for three years before opting for free agency, spending one year with Jacksonville and then signing with Philadelphia in 2016. Now he's the first of the Wisniewskis to wear a Super Bowl ring. "It's tough to be first in anything in my family because my dad and uncle had such great football careers," Stefen said. "So I definitely consider it an honor and a blessing to be the first in my family to play in a Super Bowl. Winning the game made it even better." Stefen also had the privilege of leading about a dozen of his Eagles teammates in an on-field prayer minutes after the game ended. "What an honor to be the one to pray after a Super Bowl win," he wrote on Twitter. Stefen had plenty of friends and family watching his Eagles defeat the New Eng- land Patriots in Minneapolis, including six of his former Penn State teammates. His mother, Cindy, was there with Leo, along with his wife, Hilary, his sister Sarah and her husband, Joe Silko, and his in-laws, Denise and Barry Ford and their other three children. Uncle Steve and his wife and three children could not make it, and neither could Leo's siblings, Mary Ellen, Diane, Vince and Sharon. However, Stefen invited the best man at his wed- KEEPING THE FAITH Their football success story now includes a Super Bowl championship, but the Wisniewskis – Leo, Steve and Stefen – are drawn to a higher calling W

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