Mike Prior is one of the top athletes ever to graduate from Marian Catholic High School. Now there’s a memento at the Chicago Heights school pointing to him as a “golden boy” of the school’s athletic history.
Prior, a 1981 graduate who went on to play in the NFL and was a member of the 1996 Green Bay Packers Super Bowl champs, returned to Marian Catholic on Friday and presented athletic director Dave Mattio with a commemorative Wilson Golden Football.
High schools nationwide, and even some outside the United States, are being given a Wilson Golden Football for each player or head coach who graduated from the school and was on an active Super Bowl roster, according to the NFL.
More than 2,000 high schools — including more than a dozen the Southland — will be recognized this season, and players and coaches will have the chance to deliver the commemorative footballs personally, according to nfl.com.
The initiative is part of the NFL’s Super Bowl 50 celebration. The Super Bowl High School Honor Roll program is designed to acknowledge schools and communities that have directly influenced Super Bowl history and impacted the game for the better, according to the NFL.
In accepting the football on Friday, Mattio, who was the head football coach when Prior played there, said Prior was “the most accomplished athlete that has ever represented Marian Catholic High School.”
As photos of Prior’s athletic career looped on a screen above the stage in the Marian Catholic lunch room, Mattio introduced Prior to the student body, recalling his long and acclaimed athletic career that began when he entered Marian Catholic in 1977.
“You might say that he became an instant All-American male,” Mattio said. “He played football, wrestled for Coach Bob Bergstrom on varsity and became a member of the baseball program. He was active the year-round, performed well in the classroom and did it all with the respect and great demeanor of a leader.”
Several baseball and football records set by Prior during his four years at Illinois State University remain unbroken. His 13 years in the NFL — the most notable being with the Packers, as a captain on the 1996 Super Bowl champs — have been followed by success as an assistant football coach at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis.
Not forgotten among the numerous achievements was the success of Marian Catholic’s 1980 varsity football team. It went 11-1, reaching the state semifinals for the first time before losing to Althoff Catholic, of Belleville, 22-14.
In an emotional presentation to the student body, Prior, 51, remembered his years at Marian Catholic fondly, despite the loss in his senior year that still stings a bit.
“It took a lot of years to get over that we didn’t make it to the state championship that year,” Prior said, “but all of us have turned out OK later in life, and the foundation started here. I can’t thank Marian enough for everything they gave us. It’s good to always come back and give back.”
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Prior was joined at the presentation by his mother, Mary Prior; his daughter, Bri Bjelopetrovich; his grandson, Camdyn Bjelopetrovich, 4; and four of the 1980 football team members who have remained friends with Prior over the last 35 years: Jimmy Schreiber, Greg Murray, Tommy Klupchak and Doug Molski.
Prior said his ties to the Chicago Heights community, where his parents Don and Mary Prior still live in the home where Prior grew up, remain strong.
“Always been from the Heights, and it’s always great to get back,” he said.
Prior said “good parenting,” “awesome” friendships and his experiences at Marian Catholic gave him the skills he needed to succeed in life.
“No matter whether I played football or not, things would work out for me, no matter what road I decided to choose,” Prior said.
The Super Bowl High School Honor Roll program will become a tradition starting this season, according to the NFL. Super Bowl 50 is scheduled for Feb. 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
The NFL Foundation has donated $1 million in support of the initiative, according to NFL.com. Honored schools will receive a new character education curriculum and can apply for high school football grants of up to $5,000, the website says.
Prior also played for the Packers team that lost the Super Bowl the following season. Fellow Marian Catholic alum Rodney Harrison played for four teams that made it to the Super Bowl: the 1994 San Diego Chargers, and the 2003, 2004 and 2007 New England Patriots.
Other Southland schools who have had players or coaches on active Super Bowl rosters include Mount Carmel (5), Thornton (3), T.F. South and Joliet Catholic (2 each), and T.F. North, Bloom, Brother Rice, Eisenhower, Richards, Hillcrest, Homewood-Flossmoor, Lincoln-Way Central, Rich South and St. Rita (1 each), according to the NFL.
To view a complete list of those players and coaches, visit www.nfl.com/sbhsdatabase.
Ginger Brashinger is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.