Ben Skowronek writes down all of his goals.
Win the Super Bowl.
Make the Pro Bowl.
Become an All-Pro.
On Dec. 22, the former Northwestern receiver checked off the second box as Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan phoned him to tell him he had made the Pro Bowl as a special teams player.
Skowronek, who won a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, crossed off the major career goal, saying he used his goals list to fuel his journey.
The four-year Wildcat will celebrate his successful season Tuesday at the Pro Bowl Games, the NFL’s postseason all-star game. He was the only special teams specialist selected to represent the AFC, and was one of three Steelers players voted to the squad.
This year, the NFL once again changed the Pro Bowl Games schedule, with the flag football game taking place on Tuesday instead of Sunday. The contest will take place in Santa Clara, California.
“(I) just (want to) be the best player I can be, (and the) best teammate I can be,” he said.
Skowronek said that he doesn’t have to fill up the box score with receiving yards, touchdowns or other stats that many players at his position prioritize. Instead, he focuses on impacting the game in other ways.
The Fort Wayne, Indiana, native had a career-high 21 special teams tackles, which ranked tied for fourth in the NFL.
Despite his focus on the special times aspect of football, many ’Cats fans will remember him for an offensive play: During the 2018 season, Skowronek caught the game-winning touchdown against Iowa to clinch a spot in the Big Ten Championship.
Looking back at that moment, Skowronek told The Daily it feels “surreal.” The most prominent part of that day was celebrating in Iowa’s infamous pink locker room, designed by former coach Hayden Fry as a supposed means to give the Hawkeyes a psychological advantage over opponents.
For Chad Zolman, Skowronek’s high school coach at Homestead High School, his former star’s success is a source of pride.
“It’s awesome,” Zolman said. “We keep track of him pretty close and enjoy watching all the things he’s accomplished, and it’s remarkable, honestly, what he’s been able to do.”
According to Zolman, Skowronek is the first player from Homestead to make it onto a 53-man NFL roster, and he has gone far beyond that. Skowronek credited NU for a lot of that success, as it was a space where he could learn.
“I really developed not only as a person, but started to find out who I was as a man,” he said.
Zolman has noticed that development from afar. Despite not being as close with Skowronek as when he was his coach, Zolman said he believes the environment at NU was built to help players like Skowronek succeed.
For Skowronek, his time at NU was a career highlight, and he looks back on the experience fondly.
“I’m grateful I had the opportunity to attend such a prestigious university and learn to grow on and off the field,” he said.
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