A Wisniewski on the big stage
The beginning for Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and these Patriots was the end for Steve Wisniewski.
On a snowy evening 16 years ago at Foxboro Stadium, the Patriots slipped by the Raiders in a divisional-round matchup now known as the “Tuck Rule” game. The Patriots went on to win their first Super Bowl and launch their dynasty.
Wisniewski, an eight-time Pro Bowl left guard for the Raiders, called it a career.
He did so without having played in a Super Bowl. But on Sunday, he’ll get to watch a Wisniew-
ski take the biggest stage: nephew Stefen, a left guard for the Eagles, who’ll be trying to unseat Brady, Belichick and the Patriots.
“I would’ve bet every dime I had that I would’ve made a Super Bowl, given all the talent in the 13 years I played with the Raiders,” Wisniewski said by phone this week. “I have no wisdom to give him, but I’m just absolutely thrilled for Stefen.”
Even for a dedicated football family, this is new territory. Steve Wisniewski played all 13 of his NFL seasons with the Raiders, reaching a couple of AFC Championship Games. Leo Wisniewski, Steve’s brother and Stefen’s father, played three seasons on the Colts’ defensive line in the early ’80s.
Steve also spent one season coaching the Raiders’ offensive line in 2011, the year they drafted Stefen in the second round (48th overall) from Penn State. Stefen played his first four seasons with the Raiders and one in Jacksonville before landing with the Eagles in 2016.
Given his choice of vocation and his path — both Steve and Leo attended Penn State — the significance of this week hasn’t been lost on Stefen, who told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that “it’s definitely pretty cool to be the first Wisniewski to go to the Super Bowl.”
“It’s actually pretty tough to be the first Wisniewski to do anything in football because those two guys have done a lot of great stuff before me,” Stefen told the Post-Gazette. “Obviously, I’m hoping to be the first one to get a ring.”
That would mean defeating New England, which is playing in the Super Bowl for the eighth time in 17 seasons. It’s a run that can be traced to Jan. 19, 2002, when an apparent Brady fumble that might have sealed a Raiders win was changed to an incomplete pass, and the Patriots rallied for a 16-13 overtime win to reach the AFC title game.
Jon Gruden, the head coach who was traded a month later, said recently: “For my (Raiders) career to end that night in New England, it still ticks me off.” Part of what coaxed Gruden back for a second stint in Oakland, he said at his re-introductory news conference, was a feeling of “unfinished business.”
Steve Wisniewski, who retired after that 2001 season at the age of 34, feels no such remorse.
“I still believe, to this day, we got hosed on that call,” Wisniewski said. “You look at the reaction of Tom Brady and their sideline, no one there was yelling at referees — from the moment that it happened, he felt it was, by his body language, a fumble.
“But having said that, I don’t look at one play and say, ‘That’s how we lost the game.’ We had a chance earlier in the game to make a first down on 4th-and-1 and got stuffed. That bothers me more than the ‘Tuck Rule’ play.”
Wisniewski said he doesn’t believe the “Tuck Rule” game drastically altered history.
“The Patriots, no one gave them anything,” he said. “Whether they won or lost that game against the Raiders, they’re a well-coached team, they work hard and they’ve got great players. So they would’ve won the next year, or the next year. Maybe if Tom didn’t have five rings on his fingers right now, he’d probably just have four.”
Wisniewski said the Eagles match up well in their attempt to keep Brady from a sixth ring. He likes the connection that he sees — through talks with Stefen and attending games in Philadelphia — the team having with its fans and each other.
“Believe it or not, that’s rare in the NFL,” he said. “It’s rare in the NFL to get guys that love the game of football and love playing with each other. And when you can develop that chemistry, that’s when you really can have some success.”
Stefen Wisniewski started all but three games over four seasons in Oakland, playing through a torn labrum his rookie year before shifting from left guard to center. He appeared in 14 games this season, starting 11, for a Philadelphia offense that ranked third in the league in scoring and seventh in total yards despite losing starting quarterback Carson Wentz late in the season.
“He gives you all he has, you can depend on him, he’s superconsistent,” Steve said of his nephew. “He deserves this, and I’m thrilled.”
Wisniewski, who lives in Austin, Texas, said he’ll watch the Super Bowl from home. He has traded a few texts this week with Stefen, whom he realizes is busy.
“I’ll text him the night before the game, just to let him know I’m praying for him,” Wisniewski said. “And whatever happens, it doesn’t define him.”