First off, can you let me know how you got started in your current position as Bishop?
I’m the current Bishop now of the Youngstown Catholic Diocese. That oversees six counties in Northeast Ohio. It was a great surprise and through Divine Grace, I got the call and was told the Holy Father wanted me to be the Bishop. I got that call on November 9th, and on November 17th of 2020 I was approved. In 2021 I was ordained.
I like to think that I am continuing on as a pastor, but my parish got much larger!
How did you become the Steelers Chaplain in 1994?
I was in my third parochial assignment in Bethel Park – at St. Thomas More in 1996. I got a call then from my high school classmate Jim Sweeney, who asked me if I’d be open to celebrating Mass at the hotel when the Steelers were in town. Jim and I were friends in high school – he was into sports and I was into speech and debate, but we had a mutual respect for one another.
After that our friendship rekindled. We started socializing. It was an honor to be the team Chaplain. My first game, I’ll never forget. I was conducting Mass at the Hilton Hotel then – we had about 10 guys there. I asked them who we wanted to pray for this week, and Jim, God bless him, said “I want to pray for the Cowboys this week. I always like to pray for my opponents” Well, the Cowboys trounced the Steelers that week!
The next week when I asked the team who they wanted to pray for, Mike Tomczak spoke up and said “I’d like to suggest that we don’t pray for our opponents this week!”
What are some of the moments that stand out most to you?
My 12 years there were intimate and special. I was able to bring my father to some of those Masses. Mark Bruener was one player I got to know really well.
My responsibilities then included being the rector of the seminary and speaking on the vocation. Mark would come with me to the local Catholic high schools and share his experience and discuss the vocation with students.
I baptized some of the players’ children and got to go to two Super Bowls – in Detroit and Tampa Bay. My most memorable moment was the day after the Super Bowl wins, being asked to celebrate Mass with the Rooneys in their suite. That was a special moment.
You were and are a big sports fan still, correct?
I was the fourth of five children – I grew up in a simple home in the South Hills – in Castle Shannon. We had a fenced-in backyard and it was a dreamland. I played football and baseball there with my bothers and neighborhood kids and wore the jerseys of my favorite players.
My dad was a butcher and my mom was a housewife and there was always sports on TV – even studio wrestling. My mother was a rabid fan. After the Steelers first Super Bowl win she bought a drum and led a parade around the neighborhood. She did it again when we won a second Super Bowl. Sports helped teach us how to celebrate victories and bring people together.
My childhood was blessed. The Steelers won four Super Bowls, the Pirates won two World Series and then the Penguins won Stanley Cups. It’s been a great ride being a Pittsburgher. When I came to Youngstown and people found out I was the Chaplain for the Steelers, they’d ask me if I was a Browns fan yet. I’d tell them “You can take the man out of Pittsburgh, but you can’t take Pittsburgh out of the man!” I told them I’d pray for their conversion!
What do you remember most about that rivalry?
I remember when the Browns left Cleveland. Four or five busloads of Cleveland fans came to Three Rivers after that happened, and the Steelers fans all clapped for them. I remember how compassionate the Steelers fans were. When Browns and Steelers fans get together it’s not always so great! But the cities are really so much alike. Cleveland just hasn’t had that winning tradition. But both sets of fans are loyal. We are going through it now with the Pirates. Sports is cyclical – but it’s all about supporting your team through the good and bad.
How do you see faith and sports being linked – why do you think there’s such a connection between the two for so many NFL players?
I think faith and sports are intrinsically linked. Faith means having trust and having those relationships. That means faith in God, church and community. Human beings are made to live in community and walk with each other.
Sports is a microcosm of that – of life. Winning, losing, injury, tough breaks, luck, people coming in and out of your life, competition – those all bring out the best in us. And that’s what God wants – to be our best selves. When I pray it’s never about winning. It’s about protecting athletes from injury and meeting potential.
One of the most encouraging things I see is at the end of games when the players shake hands and leave it on the field. The standing joke is that God is a Steelers or Browns fan, depending on who you root for. Well, I think God is for all of us.
Sports is also about tradition and memories and faith is the same way. Ritual and tradition are common in sports. Sports has to be a way to behold God – but not to be God. One of the challenges we are facing today is that sports are becoming like religion to some. But the closer I got to sports the more I realized it was a business.
What do you think faith does for the player – how do you think it helps them on an individual basis?
I think faith reminds us that we’re not in this alone – He’s always with us. We can celebrate the human experience and remember our dependency on God. Every day God gives us the opportunity to be all that He wants us to be – no matter what you do – what walk of life you are in.
So absolutely, faith is a key – a building block for community in any profession including sports.
Are there specific moments that stand out to you in your work with the Steelers?
I think celebrating Mass for 12 years with those athletes and coaches is a privilege I’ll never forget. I loved sports but was never able to be a professional athlete. To be in the same room and interface with them – it was a true honor. I love those moments – and to have Christ be in the center of that. I always say I never would have had the chance to be around the team if I wasn’t a priest.
In fact a month ago I was holding Mass when a man came upon to me with his wife. He asked if I remembered him, and I said “I’m sorry, no.” He told me he used to play for the Steelers. It was Roger Duffy. I was so humbled. It was a great joy to see his faith still so alive. He was a friend of Jim Sweeney’s too.
Sadly, right before Jim Sweeney died he called me. He told me Tom Myslinksi’s father died – Tom was a former Steeler. I told him I’d say a prayer for him. Two days later I finished Mass and got in my car and saw I had a message from Jim. It was his wife in tears letting me know Jim had died. I can’t put into words the shock I felt. He was the same age, from the same city and high school. We both loved sports and family and faith.
From your position, what are your thoughts on the way the NFL has changed over the years?
I think the game has gotten more physical. I don’t remember as a kid seeing so many stoppages due to injuries like you do today. I’m not sure why that is – maybe because the players are bigger and faster. But it concerns me how physical it is – the safety of the players.
It’s also become a big business. It’s become the model enterprise for the world. I’ve watched it grow and expand its outreach. There’s a lot of good the NFL does now – youth programming and players donating their time and talent to projects and missions to help their communities.
The scrutiny of players as well has increased. The statistics on players have grown as has the scrutiny. Every player is in a bubble and that becomes problematic when they retire. They are on a pedestal – when retirement comes it’s a big adjustment for them. Most don’t retire when they want to.
I spoke recently at a Curbstone Coaches event here in Youngstown. I talked about my journey and the need to celebrate victories. I golfed the day after Easter years ago and got a hole-in-one. I gave the ball to my dad – he was the first one to put a club in my hand. The world can be a dark and difficult place. We need to celebrate the journey more and offer up the love we have for one another. There is goodness everywhere. Even on every team in the AFC North.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
