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'His heart just happens to be bigger than he is'

Jerry Wunsch is making a lineman-sized impact for pediatric cancer patients.

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By RICK STROUD

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 20, 2000

FOXBORO, Mass. -- Jerry Wunsch is like most offensive lineman. It's not his blocking ability that will become the measure of his career as much as his durability.

Wunsch hasn't missed a game or a practice in four pro seasons. Like vitamins or sun screen, his real worth has to be appreciated over time.

So when Wunsch walked out of One Buc Place after an off-season workout earlier this year, he was a little surprised to encounter what he thought was an autograph-seeker who had been waiting outside the facility for the Bucs' starting right tackle.

It was Keith Issac Phillips, a 20-year-old South Florida student and a drummer in the Herd of Thunder marching band. But Phillips had no pen or football card for Wunsch to sign. Instead, he merely extended his hand and touched Wunsch's heart.

"I remember walking out and waiting for him to hand me something to autograph. But he just wanted to shake my hand. He said, "I don't want an autograph, I just want to thank you,' " Wunsch said. "That doesn't happen much in my profession. He just explained he was a cancer patient and had not been able to go on our first trip, but he wanted to thank me for giving him an opportunity and he really appreciated what we were doing for the kids because he knew how important it was. He just wanted to thank me for the difference I was making.

"I mean, it's nice when fans say, "It's really nice what you do.' But when you actually get a cancer patient, somebody who has cancer, to walk up to you and you see the sincerity in their eyes, that is what drives me to keep on doing this, to keep on trying to make a difference."

For three years, Wunsch has planned and financed a ski trip for pediatric cancer patients, and accompanied the group to his hometown of Wausau, Wis. The annual excursions involve bringing together young patients from Florida, Georgia and Wisconsin for a carefree weekend in the snow.

In June, Jerry's Journey included a reunion in St. Pete Beach for children from past trips. Phillips, a competitive gymnast from Land O'Lakes, had been unable to join Wunsch on a ski trip, but thought enough of the invitation to want to thank him personally.

On the second day of training camp, Bucs fans lined the path to the practice field at Pepin/Rood Stadium.

It's a place where Wunsch might have expected to shake hands with Phillips again. But on this day, July 25, Phillips died.

Wunsch was unable to attend the funeral, but he sent a letter to Phillips' parents, Richard and Barbara.

"This was pretty big. It was amazing," Wunsch said. "Usually kids in high school are worried about how their car is running, where they're going to get their next meal or how to get into trouble. And he's standing out in front of One Buc waiting to thank me. I thought that was pretty remarkable. I wanted them to know how special I thought their child was. That's the feedback that keeps me going."

At 6 feet 6, 339 pounds, Wunsch, the former second-round pick from the University of Wisconsin, is among the Bucs' most physically imposing players.

"His heart just happens to be bigger than he is," Wunsch's wife, Melissa, said.

Wunsch took over from Jason Odom as a starter in the fourth game last season and became the stabilizing force on an line that was plagued by injuries and inconsistency.

This season, for the first time in his pro career, he entered training camp as the incumbent starter. He also was one of the few tackles not to miss any practice time.

Odom aggravated his back injury. Wunsch's backup, George Hegamin, was moved to left tackle and sprained his knee. And Odom's backup, Pete Pierson, was limited with a hamstring strain.

That meant while other players were getting rest, wet towels and water, Wunsch had to remain on the field to take extra reps.

"That's one of my goals is to be on the field every day," said Wunsch, who never missed a game in four years at Wisconsin. "Whatever happens. Dehydration. Sprained this. Sprained that. Whatever. I have to fight through it. "I know I can play a lot better. I have to find a way to take it to that next level."

But no matter how much Wunsch improves, it's unlikely he will ever be a better player than he is a person.

Melissa, who was a nursing student working three jobs when she was introduced to Wunsch by her sister, Melinda, said her husband plans to continue his charitable work long after his football career is over.

"I think Jerry is just very thankful for where he is today," she said."He has the opportunity to give the money and the time and I don't think he takes anything for granted. He said he'll do it as long as God lets him."

According to Wunsch, working with children with cancer is too emotionally draining for some, which is why more people aren't involved.

"But as the saying goes, better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all," Wunsch said.

You want toughness? Here's a gut check you don't find in the trenches. Try walking into the bedroom of a gravely sick 13-year-old girl who will never walk down the wedding aisle. You want courage? Watch her manage a smile and offer you a cookie while a morphine pump helps her mask the pain.

It was October when the Wunschs got word that one of the first and favorite children to accompany them on one of Jerry's Journeys was succumbing to her illness.

Chelsea Brewer of Largo accepted the flowers that Jerry and Melissa brought for her that day with a hug.

"What was nice about Chelsea is she always liked giving hugs for a lot of things," Wunsch said. "For everything we did. She was always very appreciative for everything you did for her and we were very appreciative to her, too. There's no doubt about that. She's a special girl."

Said Melissa, "She was shy and always right by me or Jerry. At that stage in her illness, it was obvious she had some physical problems and it made her a little more needy on being with people she was comfortable with. Once he opened her up with other children, she took off with it and was right there with everyone, dancing.

"We got a call that she wasn't doing well and at the end stage of her illness and the prognosis was not good. Jerry had a hard time with that. I think sometimes I'm just more adaptive to it because I work in the field. We both wanted to see her and we took flowers to her and went and saw her and joked around and laughed while she was hooked up to a morphine pump. She passed away two weeks after that."

It's important to know that many of the children who Wunsch encounters survive. They undergo the best treatment available, they are under the care of the best doctors and often enjoy the best result. On Jerry's Journey, friendships are formed, addresses and telephone numbers exchanged, life is celebrated.

"I've learned to appreciate every day," Wunsch said.

On Feb. 20, Melissa is due to deliver the Wunsch's first child, a boy, Collin McKinley. "The way the kid is moving inside of me, he's going to be very active, just like Jerry," she said.

"Jerry is a special guy in that way," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said. "That's a tough thing because you're dealing, in his case, with people who know what the end of the story is going to be. ... You're just trying to make it as good as possible for a period of time and that is hard to do. I think all the players on our team respect him for that."

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