Tough Guys Have Feelings Too by Keith Negley

The reality is he would have been given a football scholarship any place he wanted. Among his many suitors were Michigan, Notre Dame and Stanford. Peter Skoronski, who revered his grandfather, is set to follow his footsteps into the NFLĪt Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Ill., Skoronski received his first college scholarship offer as a sophomore. He puts the phone down, turns to the crowd and yells, “Tennessee!” He and his family had the question mark caps made for a Christmas party. Skoronski removes a cap with a question mark on it.

Just past a board listing the eight beers brewed on-site, he covers one ear and talks on his phone. With the phone to his ear, Peter bounds up a few stairs to the back of the restaurant as if he is hunting linebacker. Piece Pizza in Wicker Park was where his family celebrated his baptism to Christianity 21 years ago, and the place they celebrate his baptism to the NFL today.Īmong the people in that alcove eating New Haven-style pizza are his grandmother Ruth, wife of the late Bob Skoronski, his sister Elizabeth and brother Robbie, a contingent from Connecticut where his family’s roots grew, and many Northwestern teammates and classmates. So he invited about 75 of them to a private gathering - sorry ABC, ESPN and NFL Network. Ever an offensive lineman, Skoronski preferred a dimly lit hideaway with family, friends, coaches and teammates, the people, he says, who helped him get here.

Tough Guys Have Feelings Too by Keith Negley