Jon Doyle Witman (born June 1, 1972) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Penn State and was a

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

fullback for six seasons (1996–2001).

Early life

Witman was born in 1972 to young parents (then 21 and 17) and was raised in

Wrightsville, Pennsylvania Wrightsville is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,257 at the 2020 census. Wrightsville borough has a police department, historic society, and a volunteer fire company. History According to a plaque at ...

, a small

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

along the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

, east of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in the south central part of the state. He played football at Eastern York High School in Wrightsville, where he led the team in back-to-back titles. From there Witman moved to

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

and was a member of its 1994 undefeated Rose Bowl-winning Nittany Lions football team, pairing with Brian Milne at the fullback position.

Pittsburgh Steelers

In 1996, Witman was the 92nd

draft pick A draft is a process used in some countries (especially in North America) and sports (especially in closed leagues) to allocate certain players to teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. When a team selec ...

, in the third round by the Pittsburgh Steelers, with whom he started 43 games until his retirement in 2001. He had not been available for any combines, due to a hamstring injury. In his rookie year with the Steelers, Witman earned the team's "

Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1 ...

Great Performance Award". He got hurt five games into the 2000 season and

Dan Kreider Daniel S. Kreider (born March 11, 1977) is a former American football fullback. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2000. He played college football at New Hampshire. Kreider earned a Super Bowl ring with the S ...

took the fullback position for the remaining 10 games. Witman returned for the 2001 season and his last game was the Steelers' January 2002 AFC Championship loss to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Struggles

Witman lost over $1 million in the 2008 stock market crash and as of late 2016, he was going through

chapter 13 bankruptcy Title 11 of the United States Code sets forth the statutes governing the various types of relief for bankruptcy in the United States. Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code provides an individual with the opportunity to propose a plan o ...

. Continuing pain from back and ankle fusion surgeries kept him from daily work and he gave his landscaping business to his brother. Witman became addicted to

opioid Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid us ...

medication and had two

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

crashes in 2016, both for which he was sentenced in 2017. Faced with severe depression, he considered suicide in 2014 but his wife found help through the

National Football League Players Association The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director De ...

. After months in

detox Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of ...

, rehab, and a

halfway house A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...

, and more rehab after some relapses, in March 2018 he was reported as having been clean and sober since November 2016.

Personal life

Witman's father, Keith, a Vietnam-Marine who worked for 30 years at York's

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

plant, died of cancer in February 2018. Witman has been partnered with his wife since 1990, the start of their junior year in high school. An initial date didn't go well two years earlier, but they got back together after it became evident he was still interested. They have four sons, one of whom played

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

at Eastern York High School as of 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witman, Jon 1972 births American football fullbacks Living people Players of American football from York County, Pennsylvania Penn State Nittany Lions football players Pittsburgh Steelers players