Kory Lichtensteiger enjoys giving back

CINDY WOOD/independent feature writer

CONVOY — At 6 feet, 2 inches and 296 pounds, Kory Lichtensteiger, the former Crestview Knight turned Washington Redskins center, is no doubt a menacing and intimidating opponent on the gridiron. Off the field, he’s a husband, a busy and active father to four boys and a down-home country boy at heart.

Raised in rural northwest Ohio, Lichtensteiger hasn’t forgotten his simple roots, or the values and ethics he learned as a standout athlete for Crestview High School.

His passion for all things athletic and his drive to succeed propelled him through a collegiate career at Bowling Green State University where he earned All-Mid-America Conference honors during each of his four seasons there. Selected by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round (108th overall) of the 2008 football draft, Lichtensteiger signed with the Washington Redskins in 2010.

A season-ending knee injury in 2011 sent him to the sidelines, but his efforts to make his way back to the field earned the respect of his teammates and organization, which awarded him the Ed Block Courage Award in 2012.

That intense drive to succeed is mirrored only by his desire to make a difference in the lives of others. To that end, Lichtensteiger has been involved in numerous charitable activities off the field, including his participation in several volunteer organizations, where he spends time reading to children or providing cakes to cancer patients.

On the field, Lichtensteiger recently re-signed with the Redskins, who are in rebuilding mode after last year’s 3-13 showing and the subsequent firing of head coach Mike Shanahan and the majority of his coaching staff. It was a difficult and disappointing year, and one Lichtensteiger is more than happy to put behind him.

“I think we had a lot of potential but we just didn’t go anywhere with it,” he said of the 2013 campaign. “We were coming off a strong year the year before, but, unfortunately, when you lose that many games, and are losing them eight and nine in a row, it’s just never a good thing.”

Regardless, the Redskins are embracing the regime change and have welcomed a lot of new faces. “It’s going pretty good. I moved from guard to center and I’ve had a good spring and early summer at that position,” he said, adding, “I have a lot of confidence going into the year so far.”

Lichtensteiger will enter this season having played in 69 regular season games with 51 starts. His resume is impressive, no doubt. But his passion to have a positive impact is even more so.

That’s one of the reasons he comes “home” every year to host a football camp for local and regional high school football players.

He’ll be bringing his skills and expertise with him, and a few notable guests, including Redskins strength and conditioning Coach Chad Englehart. The camp will offer the usual instruction on basics and fundamentals, but will go even further by offering local athletes an up-close look at what they might see at an NFL combine training session.

“Chad used to coach at one of the NFL combine training facilities, so he has a lot of experience with speed and technique and the things it takes to become not only a faster football player, but a smarter football player,” Lichtensteiger said. “I think this camp is unique not only because it’s in a rural setting and kind of in everybody’s back yard, but we’ll have coaches and athletes from 13 different colleges coming in.

“Colleges are really looking at your 40 (meter) time and pro shuttle, so we’ll be working a lot on that,” Lichtensteiger added. “There are tangibles and intangibles, and we’re going to use this camp to work on things you can actually measure.”

One thing Lichtensteiger was measuring and keeping up with this year was Crestview’s outstanding athletic successes this year, which included a state championship title for the boys’ basketball team after a 29-0 season, as well as a trip to the state tournament for the baseball team.

“It was really cool to watch,” Lichtensteiger said of his alma mater’s successes this year. “It was nice to make it back for some of their games; once they made it to BG for regionals, I decided that if they were going to win a state championship, I wasn’t going to miss it.”

Lichtensteiger was a center for the Knights’ basketball team when they made it to the state championship game in 2003, but fell to Marion Local. “I haven’t been able to play an organized game of basketball in a long time,” he said, “but I was really proud of all of them and it was great seeing everyone have so much fun.”

At his camp this weekend, players will do a lot of work, with a little bit of fun mixed in. “We’re really looking forward to it,” Lichtensteiger said during a telephone interview, noting that he was preparing then to pack up the luggage and the kids and head back to his hometown.

There is still time to register online prior to the camp, which is advised, or players can register at 8:15 a.m. this Saturday.

“Everyone is welcome to come out and, if you don’t get registered before Saturday, you can still come out and get the same instruction and coaching as everyone else,” Lichtensteiger added.

The camp will take place from 9 a.m. to noon at Crestview High School. For more information or to register, visit the camp webpage at www.klfootballcamp.com.