Former MSU football defensive lineman John Shinsky played with grit and determination on the field.
Off the field, he was molded into a new man because of his childhood.
When Shinsky was 8 years old, his father died from a heart attack. Through the grieving came even more disbelief. With his father gone and his mother the only one left to take care of him, she made the decision to place him in an orphanage.
“I always had in the back of my mind, ‘Oh yeah this is just temporary, I’m going back,’ but after a while it was a reality that — I wasn’t going back,” Shinsky said.