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and in Steve and Stefen's time Athletes in Action." "The real breakthrough in my life came [at Penn State] as men described their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Growing up and going to church, I had never known any man who had a living and a daily dependence on Christ – a prayer life where they felt that God spoke to them through his word, the Bible. With that small group of Christian guys on the team, there was something about their life, a peace with God that was constant even when they had their ups and downs, injuries, setbacks and so forth. Paterno was always supportive of us. He told me at one point that his greatest teams always had a corps of strong spiritual leaders." Leo cites Doug Hostetler and Keith Brown as two of the FCA leaders in his years, along with such better-known teammates Matt Millen, Todd Blackledge and Curt Warner. About a year or so after his NFL career ended, Leo and his wife moved to State College, getting back together with Steve, who was then a junior. While Cindy used her Penn State nursing degree to work at the Ritenour Health Center on campus, Leo used his BA degree in speech com- munications to do high school and colle- giate ministry work and also coached football at Bald Eagle High School. They went back to Pittsburgh after Steve's graduation, and Leo began working part time on a master's degree in biblical stud- ies at the Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge. For the next several years, Leo became deeply involved with his Chris- Sports Illustrated once called Steve Wisniewski one of the NFL's dirtiest players. In a cover story for SI's Oct. 19, 1998 edition, Michael Silver wrote that Wisniewski's "penchant for sustaining blocks up to the whis- tle – or past it – made him extremely un- popular with oppo- nents," adding that the former Nittany Lion was fined $65,000 during a five-week stretch in the fall of 1996. That doesn't sound like a man who pub- licly proclaims he lives a Christian life. Silver went on to write that Wis- niewski "seems to have reformed" since '96, adding that "Wisniewski believes that the league, by levying unwarranted fines, was mostly responsible for creat- ing his image, and that the appeals process was 'an absolute kangaroo court.' 'How absurd is it that I'm thought of as dirty?' Wisniewski asks. 'I'm clean-cut, I don't wear any jew- elry, I don't have tattoos, I don't drink or do drugs, I'm involved in my church and with youth charities, my family is my No. 1 priority, and I coach four- and six-year-olds in soccer. I don't use abusive language. No one I've blocked has ever been carted off with a serious injury.' " His older brother is quick to defend him. "I watched him closely [when he played] and I don't think he was a dirty player," Leo Wisniewski said. "I just think he was a really physical, tough player. If he were a linebacker, people would say he's just a tough linebacker. But because he was an offensive guard, he played until the end of the [referee's] whistle. "The only cheap shot I saw him do was when a Denver Bronco took a cheap shot at his quarterback [with the Raiders], Jeff Hostetler and Steve wiped him out and ran him over like a truck. He got fined for that." That confrontation happened on Oct. 19, 1993, in a nationally televised Mon- day night game. At one time, you could see Wisniewski's devastating block on a Raiders website, silverandblack- pride.com. The video is no longer there – nor could it be found anywhere on the internet – but there is a description of the block: "[Cornerback] Le-Lo Lang flew in low on Jeff Hostetler's knees as he was running out of bounds. Hos didn't appreciate and went after Lang. Lang then got in Hos's face and stayed there until Steve Wisniewski comes fly- ing out of nowhere and destroys Lang." And no one was penalized! Surely, Wisniewski had extra incentive because Jeff was once Leo's teammate at Penn State and eventually transferred to West Virgina. Despite his nasty image, Wisniewski was voted to eight Pro Bowls, selected All-Pro twice and was named first- or second-team on dozens of media All- Pro or All-Conference teams. He started in his first rookie game at guard and went on to start 206 consecutive games until his retirement. Two years ago, Steve was one of 83 modern-day players nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a group that included 14 offensive linemen. This past year, he was among 94 nominees, 21 of whom were offensive linemen. In neither year did he make the semifinals. The most recent offensive lineman inducted into the Hall of Fame was tackle Orlando Pace in 2016, and the most recent mod- ern-day guard was Russ Grimm in 2010. Two of this year's finalists at guard were passed over: Alan Faneca and Steve Hutchinson. Wisniewski also has been on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame since 2010. Two of his fellow Nittany Lions have been selected since then, linebacker Shane Conlan in 2014 and quarterback Kerry Collins this year. Penn State's only pure offensive lineman to be inducted was tackle Keith Dorney in 2005. No sweat, says Leo, who figures his brother is enshrined in a more presti- gious pantheon: The National Polish- American Sports Hall of Fame, class of 2004. –L.P. NFL iron man Wisniewski among Hall of Fame nominees STEVE WISNIEWSKI

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