ELYRIA — It’s well known that Elyria Catholic’s colors are green and white, but Monday morning the Panthers added a little gold. Matt Wilhelm, a 1999 graduate, stopped by after the all-county liturgy to deliver a golden football, which was part of an NFL promotion celebrating the Super Bowl’s 50th anniversary. “So an email came and at first it was, ‘Hey, we’re going to give you a golden football to celebrate you,’” Wilhelm said. “Then there was the but — ‘but you could also have one sent to your high school.’” Wilhelm, who was born in Oberlin and raised in Lorain, was an All-Ohio running back and linebacker at EC who captured the Golden Helmet award — given to Lorain County’s top senior football player — before leading the Panthers basketball team to the Sweet 16. Wilhelm went on to earn All-American status as an Ohio State linebacker, and played a crucial role in the Buckeyes’ 2002 national championship season. Next on the football journey was eight seasons in the NFL. Wilhelm was drafted in the fourth round by the San Diego Chargers, where he played for six seasons, played a year for the San Francisco 49ers and retired after winning Super Bowl XLV as a member of the Green Bay Packers. “When we approached Matt a few weeks back, he was very receptive to coming back and speaking to our students and the grade school kids from the area,” Elyria Catholic athletic director Tim Ertle said. “He has great pride in being an Elyria Catholic Panther. This is a special community to be a part of, and it was cool for everyone to hear that Matt’s four years at EC made a very big difference in his life.” With students from Catholic grade schools around the county joining the Elyria Catholic students and faculty in a packed Coliseum, Wilhelm told the audience about his time at the school and how instrumental it was to his success on and off the football field. “I’m very grateful to the National Football League and (commissioner) Roger Goodell to have this program to allow me the opportunity (to give back) and to have something symbolic (to put) in that trophy case,” Wilhelm said. …
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