Sean Considine, a safety for the Super Bowl- bound Baltimore Ravens, is the first to point out that he belongs to some important families … God’s family, the family his parents began, his hometown community, the family he shares with his wife and four children, and the NFL.

God and Family

“My Catholic faith has played a huge role in my family and career. I thank God every day for a beautiful wife and kids, for the game of football that helps make that possible and that I am part of a game that brings enjoyment to others,” Sean said in a phone interview from Baltimore, where he was preparing for Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, Feb. 3.

He is quick to talk about his faith and how important it is to his career, to the kind of man he aspires to be off the field and how it guides him as a husband and father.

“I’ve always had great examples. I idolize and respect my father. I was taught to think of others before yourself,” Sean said. He tries to bring that philosophy to his game of football and his life off the field.

“My faith has always been important and I am so blessed to have a woman that wanted to share that with me,” Sean said. He was talking, of course, about his wife Nicole, who was baptized a Catholic but was raised in the Baptist church.

“When I met Sean, his faith was one of the things that I found so interesting about him,” Nicole said in an email interview. “When we began to talk about marriage, it was very important to me that we could practice our faith together and raise our children with the same beliefs and traditions.”

Sean attended RCIA classes with Nicole.

“It was neat to have him by my side throughout the process,” she said. “It showed me that this was just as important to him as it was to me. It was something very special to share together as we were about to enter marriage.

“Even though Sean had been raised Catholic his whole life, he learned so much right along with me,” she said.

Sean has been a member of St. Mary Parish in Byron since he was in the fourth grade. Before that, he and his family were members of St. Patrick Parish in Amboy which he says “is one the most beautiful Catholic churches you have ever seen. That church is the gem of the town and I enjoy going back there when I can,” he said.

Sean went to religious education classes at St. Mary and went to Mass regularly with his parents, Colleen and Rick, also still members of the Byron parish.

Even though he hasn’t known too many of the parish priests personally, Sean said Father Howard Barch, the current pastor, baptized his 19-month-old triplets and “he seems like a great guy and I look forward to getting to know him a little better in the off season and having him over for dinner.”

The Considines built a house in Byron “so we have somewhere to call home no matter where we are during the season,” Nicole said.

“The last eight years have been an amazing experience but I know Sean and I both look forward to being in Byron fulltime and making our roots here,” Nicole said.

Sean gives much credit to the community of Byron, where he was a star player on the Byron Tigers football team in high school helping lead the team to the state championship his senior year in 1999.

He talks glowingly about his friends, teachers and former coach Everett Stine for providing a supportive atmosphere both on the field and off.

And his appreciation isn’t just lipservice. Considine is showing his fondness and appreciation by making sure there are as many as possible to share the thrill of the Super Bowl with him.

Sean, like all players headed to the Super Bowl, gets to buy only 15 tickets to the big game. Sean made sure his close family and friends would get the tickets, but also made sure his former coach and his wife received two of the $950 tickets.

“I only got 15 tickets but I know there are a lot of others coming to the game. It’s great to share a moment like this with people that helped me get here,” he said.

The Family of Football

Sean was also a part of the football family at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where he stood out on the field and earned a degree in marketing.

In 2005, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, as a fourth-round draft pick, thus beginning his membership in the National Football League family. After playing three years with the Eagles, he played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and then landed with the Ravens in 2012.

“You can’t believe what a good family the NFL is. There are negative headlines that cloud (people’s) attitudes, but most of these guys are stand-up guys from lives of faith,” he said.

“You want to see commitment and faith, you’ll find it in an NFL locker room,” he said.

The NFL provides a Catholic Mass, just not every Sunday.

“I have had a lot of opportunity to not only maintain my relationship with God, but as a Catholic,” he said.

And of course there are always game-day prayers. However, Sean says he doesn’t pray for winning or losing in the traditional pre-game prayers.

“I start off giving thanks for my wife and for energy and health to represent my team with the blessings I have been given,” he said.

He says the team recites the Our Father before every kick-off and even “the un-churched pray.”

Sean says being in the NFL brings some pressure but it’s not so much about the game.

“There is some pressure to be a role model,” he said. “I guess players are on a platform, whether that’s right or wrong, there is a responsibility. To have success in faith and life and your career you have to look at the core fundamentals of faith and humility and try to be better than you were the day before and share that with others.

“It’s just a lot of fun,” he added. “And looking to the Super Bowl, well I am just going to enjoy the moment.”

Staying Grounded

Win or lose, Sean will go back to Baltimore after the Super Bowl, then drive back to Byron where he will stay until April before he starts traveling back and forth until the season starts in August.

After that, Sean says he will just take things day by day and year by year.

“I am 31 and that’s pretty old for the NFL. I have always been interested in business and real estate stuff. Who knows? I may get the opportunity to start a business or buy one,” he said.

“We’ll just see where the good Lord takes me. He took me this far and it’s been in a good direction. As long as I have my family to fall back on there is no stress.”

And, once his career is over, Sean says he will go back to cheering for the Green Bay Packers.

“Me and my family have always been die-hard Green Bay fans. I don’t know what we would have done if Green Bay was in the Super Bowl. It would have been really hard for my dad, even if his son was in the game,” he said.