PRO DAY AND PARENTS

NFL prospect parents feel the nerves

“...this is either the beginning of one career (in the NFL) or the end of things and the start of a new road for him.” — Tony Kukwa

TOLEDO >> Tony Kukwa needed a break and a breath of fresh air.

Pro Day at the University of Toledo was in full swing, with players and NFL scouts as far as the eye could see. Still, the resident of Perry found it necessary to step outside the school’s Fetterman Training Facility, returning a few minutes later with a can of Diet Coke in his hand.

Imagine if the father of Anthony Kukwa was actually going through the drills.

Instead, he along with dozens of other parents lined the perimeter of the Toledo Rockets’ indoor facility watching their sons go through rigorous drills in front of countless NFL scouts in the hopes of impressing them enough to draft them later next month.

If you think it’s not stressful being the parent of an NFL prospect, you’d be wrong.

“Oh, it’s terrible. Very high stress,” Kukwa said of watching his son go through drills for NFL scouts. “Every child has a dream like this. He’s been working his whole life for this, and I’m praying to God it all comes true for him.

“It’s hard to stand here and watch this knowing that this is either the beginning of one career (in the NFL) or the end of things and the start of a new road for him.”

Kukwa smiled thinking about the days when he watched his son sit at the kitchen table, pretending he was a coach and drawing up football plays.

The days of being a multisport athlete for the Perry Pirates also flashed through his mind.

And here was his son, being given instructions by NFL coaches and scouts who wanted to see if Anthony Kukwa was worth a draft pick.

A handful of yards away, Stephanie Hunt was going through the same emotional wringer watching her son Kareem Hunt, a star running back at Toledo, get instructions from a staffer from the New Orleans Saints on a running drill.

When Hunt, an AllAmerican with the Rockets, high-stepped a few pylons and made a cut around the Saints’ scout, Stephanie clapped her hands and giggled like a school girl.

Most of the morning, though, included handwringing and nervous pacing.

“This is very, very hard. Stressful,” she said, echoing the sentiments of Tony Kukwa.

Kareem Hunt had hoped for a banner day at the recent NFL combine, but a slower time in the 40-yard dash worried him, and probably NFL scouts.

But when Hunt checked in with a 40 in the 4.5 range on March 20, he, scouts and his parents saw what they wanted to see.

“I think I was more nervous than he was,” Hunt’s stepfather Deltrin, said. “I told him on the phone last night, ‘Just be yourself. The teams are going to see your personality and your talent, and that will take you where you want to go.’”

Deltrin and Stephanie smiled, taking a trip down memory lane of Hunt’s playing days, well before he toted the ball for more than 2,500 yards in his senior season with the South Rebels.

“Diapers and a little Nerf football,” Stephanie said. “Then he played pee wee for the Mentor Ohio State Buckeyes.”

“And he always had that Barry Sanders poster in his room,” interjected Deltrin.

Hunt has carried the ball hundreds upon hundreds of times over the years. Each carry comes with its own stress load for a parent, and that stress didn’t go away at Toledo’s Pro Day, nor will it at the next level.

“Never. It never goes away,” Stephanie said. “Every time he touches the ball, I’m praying. Believe me.”

Both Tony Kukwa and Tom Stepec, father of Lake Catholic product John Stepec — who worked out for scouts at defensive end and outside linebacker on March 20, were flying solo at the event. Their wives remained at home.

“It’s better off if I don’t message her and tell her how it’s going,” Tony Kukwa said. “She’s nervous enough about today.” So was Stepec’s wife. “She’s been staying off social media and keeping to herself while I am here,” Tom Stepec said.

“The first thing that comes to mind here is you realize your son has been playing since third grade and after 15 years of this, it comes down to one day, knowing how he performs on this particular day is important to whether or not he gets to go to the next level.

“It’s nerve-racking, and as a parent you wish for the best. But if it doesn’t work out, life moves on and you pursue your next dream.”

JOHN KAMPF — THE NEWS-HERALD. John Stepec, former standout for the Lake Catholic and University of Toledo football programs, talks with his agent Sherman Ledet and father Tom Stepec after Toledo’s Pro Day on March 20.