Of course, his family meant the world to Mike Munchak.

Michael and Paula Munchak early on instilled a strong work ethic in Mike and encouraged him to be his own person and pursue his dreams.

Mike was one of six children, the only boy.

His five sisters treated him like royalty. Two of them, Sharon and Jill, even covered his Scranton Times newspaper route so he could be at Scranton Central's afternoon football practices.

"When he played sports, he'd ask us to help him out," Sharon Czankner said. "But when it was time to collect, he would do the collecting and we never got any of the tips! It wasn't until a customer gave the money to Jill by mistake that we found out we were getting ripped off.

"We still say if it wasn't for us, he wouldn't have had a football career, because we were there to help him out."

This, Munchak will not deny. He is the first to admit his family and friends have had a huge impact upon his life.

"My parents are the main reason for my success," Munchak said. "They were leaders by example to me. My dad was so involved in whatever I did. He taught me how to be a good dad. And their work ethic. ... Just seeing what he and mom did with six kids. I saw how hard you have to work to get what you want.

"People talk a lot about role models. To me, that's really where it starts -- at home. That's what it's about."

Michael and Paul remember Mike as an active boy, always keeping them on their toes.

"If he could, he would have crawled up there and over there. You had to have your eyes on him at all times," Paula said. "Even when he got older. He'd go sleigh riding and find the biggest hill. He was like a daredevil."

Being the only male child, Munchak wound up being spoiled, but not by his parents.

"The girls spoiled him," Paula said. "They couldn't do enough for him."

"It never even dawned on us to say no to him. I don't know what it was," Jones said. "He'd ask us to make him something to eat or to scratch his back and we'd jump up and do it. My parents treated us all equally. It was us who would do whatever he wanted.

"But, he definitely has paid us back for it."

Munchak enjoyed playing a variety of sports, but football was his true love. His favorite team was the Green Bay Packers, and on Sundays, him and his father would plop down in front of the television and watch the NFL.

With no organized football in the neighborhood, Michael Munchak and some of the other fathers formed the East Scranton Apollos. There is where Munchak began to show glimpses of greatness.

"A lot of kids say they're going to be football players when they grow up," Gavern said. "When Mike said it, somehow you knew he meant it."

Michael Munchak never pressured his son to play football.

"He just developed on his own," Michael said. "He'd have a certain time that he had to be in the basement, lifting weights. His friends would come over to see if he was going out, and Mike would say no, he had another hour or half-hour to do this or that. That's the way he was."

Michael Munchak always made certain, however, he was available when Mike did come to him for advice.

"He'd ask me, 'How'd I look? Did you see me miss that block?,'" Michael said. "He talked to me about college all the time, but he decided on Penn State himself. He had so many scholarship (offers), we were just happy he was going to school."

Munchak was always big for his age. "I would have to take him to LaSalle's in South Side," Paula Munchak said. "In high school, he had a 34 waist, but he needed 40 pants to get them over his thighs. They'd have to be taken in so they would look normal. His shirts had to be taken in, too, because of his neck."

"Even though Mike and I are the same age, I was a lot smaller than he was," Gavern said. "I always thought of myself as a little brother to him because he didn't have a brother."

Gavern and Munchak met while playing youth basketball at Weston Field. Shortly thereafter, Gavern's family moved several houses down from the Munchaks.

The pair became inseparable. Gavern was the best man at Munchak's wedding. Munchak is the godfather to one of Gavern's children. Today, they are two of a group of seven friends from Scranton Central who still keep in close contact with each other.

In high school, Munchak was a popular -- but quiet -- student. He excelled in both the classroom and on the athletic fields. By no means was he a choir boy.

"I was probably less of a saint than he was," Gavern said. "We weren't bad kids, but we had our moments."

Destined for greatness

It was in high school that Gavern knew his friend was not your average football player.

"There were a lot of high hopes for Scranton Central our senior year, but after two games we were 1-1," Gavern said. "The coaches started looking at some films. They noticed the offenses of the two teams that played against us ran to (Mike's) side of the field two times. He was playing defensive end at the time. So coach (Moe) DeCantis decided to move him to middle linebacker so they could no longer run away from him.

"During our junior year, too, when he was the blocking fullback for halfback Joe McCarthy. When he was able to get out there on end runs, turn the corner, turn up field and block the linebacker or the cornerback in front of Joe McCarthy, I think that's when I started to really realize just how good he was.

"He was always a big, nice kid, but on the football field he transformed from nice guy to an extremely dedicated and sometimes mean football player."

Munchak remains that same nice guy. He has not been spoiled by his success at Penn State, in the NFL and his selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Every year, he rounds up his entire family and takes them on vacation somewhere. "He insists we all go together," Michael Munchak said.

His sister, Jill, has never seen him turn down an autograph request. "We're constantly calling him and asking, 'Can you sign this? Can you do this?,'" she said. "We drive him nuts, but he doesn't complain."

"If you ever need anything, he's there for you," his uncle, A.J. Munchak, said. "He's still the same friend you knew in high school or college. His gridiron success and financial success haven't changed him. He's still a down-to-earth guy."

Gavern concurs.

"I would have been surprised if he forgot where he came from," Gavern said. "I never thought he was different than me and he's not other than being one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL.

"He's the same person I knew growing up and he'll always be the same. With all he did in his career, he had the opportunity to change and he never did."