Former Penguin patrols field The former All-American linebacker is getting a second chance to play football.

By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
FTER MIKE STANEC OF AUSTINTOWN helped the Youngstown State football team win the NCAA Division I-AA national championship in 1997 as a junior linebacker under coach Jim Tressel, he quit playing football.
Then after graduation, he became a school teacher and law enforcement officer, began raising his daughter, Kaitlin, and 10 years passed without knowing for sure if he would ever play football again at any level.
But then last year, while teaching middle school mathematics in Warren and also serving as a patrolman in Milton Township, the opportunity that Stanec doubted he ever would get again presented itself in the form of the Mahoning Valley Thunder.
The new arenafootball2 franchise was forming under area ownership and looking for players, especially some area standouts, giving Stanec a second chance.
He wasn't about to pass it up.
"This is my last chance to play football. If I didn't try it, I might regret it," said Stanec, who was a first-team All-American and Gateway Conference All-American for YSU by The Sports Network as a senior in 1998. "Everyone is hoping to get a chance to advance to another level. It's my last chance and I'm having a good time."
But, "The big thing for me is that my family can come to the games and watch me play. My parents and my daughter can come."
And Kaitlin, 8, who attends St. Joseph's school in Austintown, is Stanec's biggest fan.
There is a sacrifice to do it
But there has been sacrifice for Stanec to pursue his long-delayed dream of blocking and tackling again.
He said that he had to quit teaching and rearrange his schedule as a patrolman in order to play for the Thunder.
"It makes it tough. I had to shift my work to the midnight turn. Before that I was working day turn," said Stanec, who was a teacher in Warren for seven years before temporarily leaving the profession to join the Thunder.
Prior to becoming a patrolman a year ago, Stanec was with the Mahoning County Sheriff''s Department for four years.
In addition, the 6-2, 250-pound fullback-linebacker is trying to adjust to the big differences in arena and college games.
"The big difference is the speed of the game, quickness and [also] adjusting to the rules," said Stanec, who won four letters as a linebacker at YSU and was named the Penguins' Outstanding Defensive Player and Team MVP in 1998 as a senior and a team captain.
He played for YSU from 1995-98.
"I'm familiar with [the rules] now," he said. "I got them down now. I'd better know them."
Had to fine-tune his defense
Stanec also said passing is much more prevalent in arena than college football with "98 percent of the offense being passes," he pointed out.
So, as a linebacker, he has had "to tune up [his] pass-rushing skills."
And he also has had to learn the rules for linebackers, which are different from college football. Because in the af2, two defenders serve as linebackers -- one called the mac and the other called the jack -- with different functions.
"The mac usually does the rushing while the jack watches for the screen pass, fullback release pass and the run," said Stanec, explaining that the jack must stay within a box on the field, and cannot rush the passer.
So far in two games, Stanec has made four tackles, including two solo stops with two tackles for losses of four yards. On offense, he has not yet carried the ball but has caught one pass.
Stanec has found some similarities in the home fields, noting that the Cortland Banks Field at the Chevrolet Centre "is kind of similar to YSU's old turf. The walls make a little bit of difference. You're bouncing off the walls."
Senses fans love game
And he knows the fans like the game because of the close proximity of players on the field to the seating right next to the walls.
"It is up front and personal," said Stanec, who again is expected to play a major role in the entertaining show again today when the Thunder (2-0) plays host to the Cincinnati Jungle Kats starting at 7:05 p.m.
The Thunder, which had a bye last week, is ranked No. 7 in the af2 Coaches Poll for Week No. 3 with 254 points.
The team opened the season and its franchise with a 48-40 win over the Tri-Cities Fever on March 31, and followed that with a 65-59 win at the Albany Conquest on April 6.
kovach@vindy.com