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The lineman who sacked future Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks in the 1980s and earned the nickname “The Sledgehammer” can be found roaming the halls of Woodstock High and Woodstock North High. Pete Catan, who was an All-American at Eastern Illinois before enjoying a near-decade-long professional career, is the building trades teacher for District 200. Standing 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, Catan played for numerous teams, such as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League from 1981 to '83, the Houston Gamblers of the defunct United States Football League from 1984 to '86 and then brief stints for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Diego Chargers in subsequent years. He’s since left his mark in construction and education.
When I played, I sacked quarterbacks. That was kind of my forte. When I was in the USFL, I think Reggie White came in first with 23, and I finished with 22 sacks one year. Probably, the most notable comments I received from fans was, when I sacked the quarterback, it just looked like a business transaction. I'd reach out, I'd help them back up and I'd just go back to the huddle. It was business as usual. Because it wasn't about me, it was about the team.
You retire, but actually, you just get fired. You get fired enough times, and if you have a spouse, she looks at you and says, 'Are you done?' And finally you say, 'Yes.' So, after being bounced around the last year-and-a-half of my career, I decided to call it quits. I lived in Chicago with my wife and son, and then from there, I contacted a lot of construction companies and I was able to get some interviews.
For summer jobs, I always did construction. And because I worked extremely hard, I was never lacking any work. I really enjoyed working with my hands, and from there, I learned a lot from the carpenters. There was a German carpenter who lived on our cul-de-sac and who would hire me in the summertime. I started working with him at age 15, 16.
It's extremely hard. It's labor intensive. And for some reason, I am driven by things that are labor intensive. I remember a story one time that I would tell students: I would have a race with my brother. He gave me a little bit of a head start one time. It was probably a two-mile race in our subdivision in upstate [Penfield] New York we grew up in. And I knew when I got to the the hills, and ran as hard as I could, he wouldn't be able to beat me. So, that's what I did. I think that's like the construction aspect of it. When you first get into it and you're young, it's very labor intensive. It's basically all you do. You haul lumber. You're moving gravel. You're doing all the jobs that are like that.
Probably the most gratifying thing I see from the students – and myself, too – is that every day when they walk away from the job site, there's another phase of construction that they've completed. So they're watching this structure as a parcel of land, a lot. A hole is dug. The foundation is put in. From there, the floor system is put up, the walls are framed up. Then you go to the second floor. They're amazed how interesting and exciting it is to be able to build something, and most importantly, leave their thumbprint in the community for a lifetime. They'll be able to bring their grandkids when they're 60, and say, 'Hey, this is the house I built when I was in high school.'
I'm a licensed as a general contractor in the state of Illinois, as well as an educator. So, I couple the two of those together, and the marriage is unbelievable because I get my cake and I get to eat it, too. I love working with young people and inspiring them, so that they too can one day own their own company. And just to validate that, I have 28 students who own their own company.
• I’m Just Saying is a regular Sunday feature. If there’s someone you’d like to see featured, write to me at jkaufman@shawmedia.com or send me a message on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.