With friends and family at his side in Chicago April 27, Park Ridge’s Peter Skoronski took a phone call that moved the offensive lineman from playing football at Maine South High School and Northwestern University into the NFL with the Tennessee Titans.
Holding off onrushing defensive linemen amid the clash of literal human titans in line play, the 21-year-old, 315 pound, 4.92 high school GPA Skoronski brought a combination of brains and brawn to NFL executives searching for skilled blockers.
A former valedictorian at Park Ridge’s Maine South High School, Skoronski carries the heritage of his late grandfather Bob Skoronski Sr., an offensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers and member of five 1960s NFL championship teams coached by Vince Lombardi.
Parents Bob, himself a former Yale University defensive lineman, and Anne Skoronski accompanied their son to make the rounds at Titans headquarters in Nashville on Friday, a day after the team selected Peter Skoronski as the 11th pick in the draft, one selection behind the Chicago Bears.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” Peter Skoronski said in his introductory press conference. “I’ve got to stop and soak it in a little bit. I’m really happy about how things have gone.”
The younger Skoronski is the first Maine South first-round draft choice since defensive tackle Dave Butz was picked No. 5 by the then-St. Louis Cardinals in 1973.
Peter Skoronski hopes to have success with the Titans, reaching the ultimate competitive level after playing tackle all his life. A big but “well-proportioned” player, according to Dave Inserra, his football coach at Maine South, he began playing the offensive line in sixth grade, his size and skill mandating he play on seventh- and eighth-grade teams.
“I don’t think I really had a choice (playing on the offensive line) when I started playing tackle football,” Skoronski said. “I was too heavy to even be allowed to carry the ball, so I always had to play the line. Never really played anything else. Just always felt natural. I was a bigger dude.”
The middle-school Skoronski had to wear a stripe on his helmet, signifying he could not carry the football, his girth being such that he’d flatten under-sized youthful defenders if allowed to get a running start.
“At every age level, he was that much bigger than everyone else. He also played soccer growing up,” said Inserra.
From Day One, Skoronski learned controlled aggression running interference for his skilled-position teammates.
“I love the aspect of the game, of being able to dominate someone for 60 minutes,” he said. “Moving a guy against his will, sort of getting him to fold.”
Skoronski acknowledged that, as an offensive linemen, he has to be something of a technician to execute a variety of blocking schemes for both running and passing plays.
“I sort of strive for (technician) personally, behind being…a physical player,” he said. “Offensive line is so difficult, you have to have technique. Technique is something I pride myself on.
“I’m someone who prides myself on consistency and want to be someone for this organization that people can count on day in and day out. They can count on for a good performance week in and week out. I hope fans realize that.”
Mastering the Titans’ playbook is the next step for Skoronski, who possesses the combination of on-field awareness and intellectual capacity that landed him a football ride to Northwestern University.
Amassing a long list of football honors at Maine South, Skoronski went to college in 2020 after finishing in the top five students out of a graduating class of 630. He had a 4.92 GPA out of a 4.00 scale in an accelerated honors curriculum.
“His older siblings also were strong students,” said Bob Skoronski. “Peter came home each day to an area where he opened his books. He did not do anything else until his homework was done. He has a real love of learning, and it was easy to apply himself to his studies. He had a variety of interests outside of football.”
Peter Skoronski’s academic, as well as athletic, skills earned the highest level of praise from his former Maine South football coach.
“Peter is the best football player from Maine South in my 34 years, said Inserra. “He is also the best student with the best work ethic on both fronts. Peter is the consummate teammate and friend. He is the most humble person who happens to have a load of talent and size. But everything he has accomplished has been earned due to his outstanding work ethic and never, ever taking a short cut.”
Skoronski also considered Stanford and Notre Dame. “I wanted to go to a good economics school,” he said. A dean’s list student majoring in economics with a history minor, he left Northwestern in December, eight credits short of graduation, to prepare for the draft. Bob Skoronski said his son plans to finish his degree, but the timing is not yet set given he’s just starting out in the NFL.
As with football, Skoronski’s ability to crunch numbers in economics seems to course through the family tree. Bob Skoronski has been a Chicago Board of Trade broker since 1981. Anne Skoronski recently departed an investment banking position at Bank of America after a 37-year career.
The family also has an investment in the Piece Pizza restaurant – where the Skoronski draft party Thursday night was held — in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood.
After Skoronski got the phone call from the Titans and now will embark on playing as a rookie with the team, he said he’s ready to learn.
“Obviously as a young guy, it can be tough to be in that position because you don’t have the experience under your belt,” he said. “It’s starts with just doing your job and being a consistent guy right off the bat. That’s what I’m going to start with and go from there. Earn guys’ respect by doing what I’m supposed to do. That’s the only thing you can do to earn that leadership position.”
Peter Skoronski unfortunately did not have a number of years absorbing all the secrets of offensive-line play from his grandfather, who died at 84 in 2018. Bob Skoronski, Sr. suffered from the effects of dementia, his son recalled, as Peter was starting to distinguish himself at Maine South. But the old Packer did watch his grandson play in middle school and pronounced to his son, “There’s a tackle.”
The entire Skoronski family avoided a dilemma as the draft proceeded. The Bears, picking right before the Titans at No. 10 in the first round, selected offensive tackle Darnell Wright from the University of Tennessee.
If Bears general manager Ryan Poles had chosen Skoronski, the entire history of rivalry of the Bears and Packers would have come into focus for the family. Peter Skoronski bled green-and-yellow after his grandfather’s feats as a Packer. Yet, Bob Skoronski said the family would have converted to Bears fandom with no issue.
“I’m going to put on a blue (Titans) jersey,” Peter Skoronski said. “My grandpa playing (in Green Bay) will always be part of family history.”
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