Last week, former Jayhawk and current Pittsburgh Steelers center Justin Hartwig became the 13th Kansas player to win a Super Bowl. After the game he said he recognized the honor of being a part of that elite group.

“Just to even be mentioned as accomplishing something those guys have is really special,” Hartwig said. “I look back fondly at my days at KU and appreciate where I came from and it definitely made me a big part of who I am now.”

Before he graduated from the University, an adviser asked Hartwig what his career plans were. When he mentioned professional football, the adviser told him to come back and talk with the advising center if it didn’t work out.

“My career could have easily been over when I was done at KU,” Hartwig said. “I said I’m looking at playing in the NFL and they looked at me like I was ignorant or crazy.”

After finding playing time hard to come by, Hartwig started his final three seasons and was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection in 2001.

Former Jayhawk teammate Danny Lewis, who currently works at the Adams Alumni Center, said Hartwig was one of the best linemen he had crossed when at the University. In those three seasons, Hartwig started at offensive tackle.

“I never saw him lose a one-on-one drill when I was playing at KU,” Lewis said. “He was legit.”

Lewis said he wished Hartwig could have been around for the great football staff that is in place now.

“He is doing pretty good for himself,” Lewis said. “I wish he was able to see and experience KU football as we know it now instead of the dark days of Terry Allen.”

Transition to NFL

Although the Jayhawks never went to a bowl game in Hartwig’s time at Kansas, his versatility as an offensive lineman led the Tennessee Titans to draft him in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft.

A little less than seven years ago, Hartwig was sitting in a plane on his way to Tennessee reading ESPN magazine when he saw it: A photo of Titans defensive lineman Jevon Kearse, as Hartwig said, “breaking a player in half.”

“I was like holy crap, I’m on my way to go down and block him right now,” Hartwig said. “You know you can play in college, but the guys you’re going against in the NFL are older and smarter and in some cases physically bigger than guys you’ve been going against.”

In his first year, the coaches moved him from tackle to guard. The next year he made a permanent switch to center. Although Hartwig went through multiple transitions in his football career, none of them may have been as big as his switch to the center position.

In football, the center is an empowering position because the center has to know the offense and blocking schemes better than anyone on the line.

“I had never snapped the ball before and five days later I was starting my first preseason game against the Cleveland Browns,” Hartwig said. “They moved me to center because I was playing really well and they said I would be their fifth best lineman.”

Because of his versatility, Hartwig didn’t have a problem playing a position on the line he had no experience with.

Matthew Gallagher, Overland Park freshman, who is a Steelers and a Jayhawks football fan, said he thought Hartwig’s position switch was impressive.

“I think that the ability to switch from playing tackle in college to center in the NFL speaks a lot to his overall ability as a football player,” Gallagher said.

Hartwig compared the moves in his first two seasons to the growing process he experienced as a freshman at the University.

“Going into a college football team where there are 22 and 23-year-old seniors, you kind of get thrown into the fire,” Hartwig said. “Just from a growing up stand point, on the field and off the field I had a lot of great experiences at KU and especially learned a lot about myself.”

Post Tennessee Years

After leaving the Titans in 2005, Hartwig signed with the Carolina Panthers for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. After those seasons, the Panthers released him.

Hartwig said he was extremely excited at the beginning of the 2008-09 season when the Steelers picked him up as their starting center. When Hartwig interviewed for the job with coach Mike Tomlin, Tomlin said if he came to Pittsburgh he would have a realistic chance to play for a Super Bowl every year.

Tomlin wasn’t lying.

Late in the fourth quarter of this year’s Super Bowl, a holding penalty on Hartwig in the end zone resulted in a safety. The Cardinals took advantage and scored quickly, but the Steelers and Hartwig remained poised. They got the ball back with a minute and a half left on the clock and drove down the field.

“The holding call definitely took the wind out of my sail for sure,” Hartwig said. “But our calling card all year was winning all our close games and we did what we had to do.”

The Steelers pulled out the come-from-behind victory, 27-23 over the Cardinals, and left Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., as Super Bowl champions.

“There was just a really weird vibe in the air like I’ve never felt before,” Hartwig said. “My adrenaline was absolutely sky high. It was a lot of fun, because you know that the whole world is watching and there is so much buildup to the game.”

— — Edited by Susan Melgren