Matt Stankiewitch (born February 8, 1990) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. 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 ...

for

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 ...

from 2008 to 2012.

Recruiting

Stankiewitch graduated from

Blue Mountain High School Blue Mountain High School is a rural public high school in Schuylkill Haven in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1957 and renovated from 1999 to 2001. It is part of the Blue Mountain School District. By 2015, enrollment was repor ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 2008. Stankiewitch was a 2 time all-state football player after his junior and senior seasons. He started at left guard in the

Under Armour All-America Game The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the U.S. state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game was first played on January 5, ...

and started at center in the

Big 33 Football Classic The Big 33 Football Classic is an all-star American football game featuring the top high-school football players in Pennsylvania. Played since 1957, the game is often described as the "Super Bowl of High School Football." Contests currently pit ...

where he was the Pennsylvania team captain in the game.

College football career

At Penn State, Stankiewitch redshirted in 2008 before starting two games at left guard in 2009. In 2010, Stankiewitch played in six games before missing the rest of the season due to illness. He was able to remain healthy throughout 2011 and 2012, finishing his career having made 25 starts at center and 2 starts at guard, second highest among the 2012 senior class. The talented and tough Stankiewitch helped anchor a unit that led the Big Ten in fewest sacks allowed in 2011 (14 in 13 games). The physical and driven Stankiewitch led the Penn State Nittany Lions in snaps played in 2011 & 2012 with 966 in 2011. During the course of the 2012 season, Stankiewitch was awarded 5 game balls and was a finalist for the

Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best American football center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College F ...

. He was awarded 1st team all Big Ten as center after the 2012 season. He was instrumental in helping Coach Bill O'Brien's Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in total offense (437.0 ypg) in conference games and ranking second in scoring offense (32.6 ppg) and second in pass offense (283.1 ypg) against Big Ten foes. Stankiewitch helped the Nittany Lions gain more than 500 yards of total offense three times in conference play, topped by 546 yards against Indiana, its highest total against a Big Ten foe since gaining 557 yards against Michigan State in 2008. Lastly, Stankiewitch played the most plays on the Penn State football team during

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

's last season as head football coach.

Professional football career

On April 28, 2013, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by 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 ...

. On August 5, 2013, Stankiewitch was re-signed by the Patriots. On December 30, 2013, the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

signed Stankiewitch to reserve/future contract. He was released from injured reserve on August 20, 2014 after sustaining a left hand fracture.

Indoor rowing

Stankiewitch competed in the Indoor Rowing Americas Continental Qualifier in 2021. He placed 3rd in both the Men's Open 500m and 2000m qualifying for the 2021 World Rowing Indoor Championships (WRICH). He represented the USA and competed at the 2021 WRICH where he placed 10th in the Men's Open 2000m and 13th in the Men's Open 500m. Stankiewitch competed in the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships in February 2022. He placed 1st in the Men's Open 500m and qualified for the 2022 World Rowing Indoor Championships (WRICH). He represented the USA and competed at the 2022 WRICH where he placed 7th in the Men's Open 500m.

References

{{cite web , title=Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships draws large international crowd , url=https://worldrowing-admin.soticcloud.net/2022/02/02/canadian-indoor-rowing-championships-draws-large-international-crowd/

External links

Penn State Nittany Lions bio
Indoor Rowing Highlights 2021 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Pottsville, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania American football centers Penn State Nittany Lions football players New England Patriots players Jacksonville Jaguars players Under Armour All-American football players American male rowers