Stefanski at home on gridiron

Kevin Stefanski might as well have been a basketball player.

He certainly looked that way for a brief moment on Tuesday, as he chased what looked to be a fast-breaking Princeton wideout, B.J. Szymanski, from behind.

And he certainly had the background; his father Ed was a four-year letterwinner for the Penn basketball team from 1973-76 and is currently the director of scouting for the New Jersey Nets.

But Stefanski is not a basketball player. He's a defensive back for the Penn football team, and much to his displeasure, he's the defensive back that let Szymanski burn him for an 85-yard touchdown reception in Tuesday's scrimmage at Princeton Stadium.

"There were a lot of breakdowns on that play," Stefanski said of Szymanski's touchdown. "No one person's at fault, but I take the responsibility."

Stefanski, however, doesn't take the responsibility when it comes to not following his father's footsteps on the hardwood.

"That gene didn't really pass down as I hoped," the younger Stefanski said.

But somehow, the Stefanskis were beneficiaries of a football gene. Kevin's brother Ed plays football at Widener. His brother Matt plays football at St. Joseph's Prep (Pa.). And his eighth-grade brother David plays football.

It does seem like the roundball gene morphed into a pigskin gene in the latest generation of the Stefanski family.

But if there's some sort of Penn gene, Kevin's father certainly passed it on. Still, like he does with that 85-yard touchdown, Kevin takes responsibility for his future alma mater.

"I didn't come here because of my dad," he said. "I didn't play football because my dad played (basketball) here."

In case you haven't noticed, Kevin likes to be his own person, do his own thing. That's how he got started on the gridiron in the first place.

"I pestered my parents enough, and they finally gave in when I was in third grade," Stefanski said. "I've been preparing for the football season every August since."

While in high school, Stefanski was a first-team All-Catholic quarterback as well as defensive back at St. Joe's Prep. But he's stuck to the defensive side of the ball at Penn.

Last year, Stefanski earned Penn Defensive Rookie of the Year honors despite coming off the bench. He made 27 tackles and intercepted a pass in the Quakers' Ivy League title-clinching win over Cornell.

This year, Stefanski has a shot to earn a starting job, but that's not paramount to the 5'11", 185-pound sophomore.

"The team goal is to win the Ivy League," Stefanski said. "It's never a goal of mine to start. It's never a goal to make the first team."

If that were his goal, Szymanski's touchdown might have been detrimental toward his achieving a starting nod.

But then again, he atoned for that mistake in the second quarter when Princeton quarterback Matt Verbit threw a pass over the middle into a crowd of Penn defenders and Princeton receivers.

Kevin Stefanski might as well have been a basketball player. He certainly looked like it then, wrestling the pigskin away for an interception like a power forward fighting for a rebound on the hardwood.

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