STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Offensive line coach Matt Limegrover was waiting, hoping that one day in his meeting room he'd have to tell his left guard to quiet down.
Somewhere between the final handful of games last season and spring ball, Steven Gonzalez came out of his shell and, by Limegrover's estimations, he's elated that he now can't get him to stop talking.
"Last year [he was] a really quiet guy," Limegrover said. "As a coach, one of the things that I think is really important is you get the feel and you get the tone of your room and he was a guy who was obviously always present, but I didn’t think he was involved. I didn’t think he had a good rapport with the other guys and was just kind of a lone wolf, a loner, a quiet kid, kept to himself."
"It’s amazing," Limegrover continued. "He had that opportunity to play toward the end of the season and carried it over and got into the spring and to be honest with you I joke with him all the time that I can’t shut him up anymore. He’s in there and he’s right in the middle of it."
Gonzalez has grown in leaps in bounds since the Union City, N.J., native signed with Penn State in 2015 and he's done so while remembering the person who he plays for. After the Lions won the Big Ten title game and while players sprinted onto the field, Gonzalez, in disbelief, knelt down and pointed a finger toward the sky, remembering his dad like he's done countless times before.
Wednesday marked four years since Gonzalez lost his father, Jorge, who passed away from a heart attack. Jorge was the one who introduced Steven to football, the one whose love of the Minnesota Vikings carried over to his son. In the four years since his passing, Steven left an empty seat next to him with his dad's name on it during his 2015 Signing Day celebration and even wore his dad's watch to help mark special occasions.
Can't believe today marks 4 years, and I miss you everyday. I hope I am making you proud. Love you Pops pic.twitter.com/f1T24CkSpf
— Steven Gonzalez (@StevenG511) September 13, 2017