Danny Abramowicz is surrounded by Ronan Canuto, Emily Kennedy, Fr. Andrew Gutierrez, Hannah Lenoux, Joe Bass and Patrick O’ Regan at the shore of Lake Ponchartrain in Kenner, Louisiana. ©Kathy Anderson Thursday, November 17, 2022

(Editor’s note: This is the first installment in a profile of Steubenville-native Danny Abramowicz, who was the recipient of EWTN’s 2022 Mother Angelica Award. The Catholic Central High School graduate enjoyed a long career in the National Football League, most of which was spent with the New Orleans Saints, coached in the league and did commentary. His work now is centered on making sure men are in spiritual shape. Today, Abramowicz says he was all about “Faith, family and friends.” Monday, he discusses how he helped his wife of 56 years, the former Claudia DiPrinizo, who died on Aug. 2 after her fight against cancer and strokes. On Tuesday, he talks about how following God’s game plan transformed his life.)

In honor of his lifetime of service to the new evangelization, Steubenville native and former National Football League star Danny Abramowicz was presented the 2022 Mother Angelica Award at the EWTN studio in Birmingham, Ala.

But his work to bring others to Jesus Christ as savior is just beginning, especially when it comes to reaching youth.

Michael P. Warsaw, EWTN chairman and chief executive officer, made the presentation during a Dec. 12 ceremony televised around the world by EWTN, the largest religious media network in the world with 11 TV channels broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to more than 350 million households in more than 145 countries and territories.

This marks the second year for the presentation of the award, which was created “as a way to honor people who have devoted their lives in service to the church, particularly in the service of the new evangelization, just as Mother Angelica herself had done,” Warsaw is quoted in a news item by the Catholic News Agency. “This annual award recognizes individuals who, like Mother Angelica, seek to bring others to a deeper knowledge of God.”

Abramowicz, no stranger to EWTN as a former board member and familiar face on its faith-nurturing shows, was nonetheless surprised when Warsaw contacted him, informing him of his selection for the honor.

“You got to be kidding. You got the right person?” he said. “‘All these people out here and you pick me?’ I mean I was just blown away because if they told me, Danny, you can either have the Mother Angelica award or the NFL Hall of Fame, it wouldn’t even be close — I’d take the Mother Angelica award, because the NFL, that’s what I did. That’s not what I am about,” he said in a phone interview from his home in Mandeville, La.

“I’m about faith, family, friends.

“The Lord let me be successful (in football) because when they threw me a pass when I was a little kid in Steubenville, Ohio, I could catch like nobody’s business, and plus where I came from — never quit determination, fight to the end, give it your all. That’s what helped me,” said the former New Orleans Saints wide receiver who was named All-Pro by Sporting News and The Associated Press. He ended his career holding the NFL record for catching a pass in 105 consecutive games and afterward spent several years as an analyst for Saints games, served as a special-teams coach for the Chicago Bears and returned to the Saints as an offensive coordinator.

“When they looked at me, I was a short, slow, wide receiver. How many people are looking for that? Not too many,” he said reminiscing of a career in which he wasn’t chosen during the NFL draft to play for the Saints until the 17th round.

“But the one thing they couldn’t look at was my heart. They can’t read my heart. See, that’s what the Lord does. He doesn’t need minds. He’s looking at our hearts. If our heart is right, that’s where he abides,” he said.

At Xavier University on a scholarship, Abramowicz recalled having to take 18 hours of philosophy and 12 hours in theology.

“We had scriptures, and I just looked at it like it was a class just to get through until when I got into the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, because most of my life was all Latin, you know when I was an altar boy. Once I started getting into the word — really into the word — that’s when the whole thing came to enlightenment,” he said.

Abramowicz said when he goes out and speaks to audiences, he explains that there are really only two books that a person needs.

“One is the Bible. That’s your playbook. Second is a Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church. That’s our game plan. Just like the Steelers have a game plan or (Catholic) Central has a game plan when they play a game, this is our game plan for the Catholic Church. Those two, if you have them, you’re on the right track,” he said.

“I’ve traveled around speaking all over the place, and when I get with the guys, I always asked them this question. How many of you here do the readings before you go to Mass on Sunday?” he said.

“What do you think the highest percentage over the last 35 years is?”

“It’s 5 percent,” he said. “Hardly any.”

Then he asks what business they’re in, challenging after hearing their varied occupations that “you would go into a meeting unprepared, not do any preparation at all?” They assure otherwise, he said.

“But wait a minute. You’re going to go to Mass, the most important thing we do in our spiritual life that lasts forever. You’re going to not be prepared?”

Abramowitz’s life changed dramatically in recent months.

His wife of 56 years, the former Claudia DiPrinizo of Steubenville, died on Aug. 2.

In the initial weeks after her death, after their children had gone home, after the house was totally empty, Abramowicz said the reality of being alone, being a widower, began to sink in.

What next for his life, he wondered.

“After grieving for about three weeks, the Lord said, ‘Danny, I’m not done with you. There’s more.'”

That “more,” he said, involves a target group of young adults, ages 25 to 40 that “really needs to be evangelized, catechized, back to the faith. If we don’t do that, our church is dwindling. They don’t believe in hardly anything. They’re getting their gospel from the phone. They don’t realize that God loves them, that God would die for them personally, but someone has to tell them,” he said, describing himself as “a solutions guy.”

“How do we change this thing? How do we bring these young people back? That’s why we started a fund – the Claudia Abramowicz and Family Fund — and we’re going to evangelize this age group — build community, build trust, build love, build friendship, but not just stick a Bible at them. They’ll run away.

“Use sports, use music, use the personal stuff, that someone really cares, that they can trust. They can trust the Lord, they can trust the church, but how are they going to do that? They’ve got to see it in other young adults, not me, a gray-haired, bald-headed guy. I can mentor them. I know more than them. They might be smarter than me, but I’ve got a doctorate out here in the world.”

Abramowicz has begun the fundraising and has assembled young adults in the archdiocese where he lives to brainstorm and get started.

He and his family established the Claudia Abramowicz and Family Fund in his wife’s name with contributions to be used to evangelize young adults in that age group to participate in the new evangelization, following the example of Mother Angelica.

“The mission is to strengthen and form their Catholic faith and to bring back those who have fallen away by creating a supportive Catholic atmosphere,” a promotional flier notes.

Gifts are managed through the Catholic Community Foundation. To donate online, visit www.ccfnola.org/theclaudiafund. To donate by check, make it out to the Claudia Abramowicz and Family Fund, and mail to c/o Catholic Community Foundation, 7887 Walmsley Ave., New Orleans, LA 70125.

“It’s a donor-advised fund, because I don’t want to minister none of this stuff. I want young people. The key to this is leadership,” he said, asking, “What did Jesus Christ do? He went out and picked 12 guys. I wouldn’t pick those guys, but he saw the qualities in those people. Then he trained them and then he sent them out by two to go evangelize. Now where did those guys go? They didn’t go to strangers. They went to their family and friends. And look, here we are 2,000 some years later, doing the same thing. He’s telling us, do it the way I did it. So that’s what we’re doing.

“We’ve got this ball rolling now,” said Abramowicz. “But you’ve got to be doers.”

He referred to a passage from the book of James in the New Testament, about being not just hearers of the word, but doers. “What’s your action item?” he said, noting family and friends, for example, may listen to what you say, but “more importantly, they look at you, at what you do, how you treat people.”

“My wife, I’ve never heard her say one thing derogatory about anyone or judgmental. We’ve met all kinds of people, all the way to St. John Paul II. We met him in person, but to the guy that picked up our trash, we gave him the same respect, because every single person has been made in the image and likeness of God.”

Young people need to know about the beatitudes, he said. “They’re over here attacking one another on social media,” said Abramowicz, who admitted he has “no clue” what’s going on in the political world these days.

“I haven’t watched not one bit of news in five months, and I feel so much better,” he said. “I know they’re lying. I know that they don’t know what they’re doing. I know that they’re taking Christ out of the equation, and it won’t work, so the only thing I can do is pray and vote.”

(Kiaski can be contacted at jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com)