Peter Gonzalez, Son of former Steelers QB, Wins NFL Award

Pittsburgh Central Catholic wide receiver Peter Gonzalez, the son of former Steelers quarterback Pete Gonzalez received a prestigious honor on Wednesday, as he won the inaugural NFL Latino Youth Honors Award.

The NFL and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation came together to start the award, which honors and recognizes the excellence of Hispanic and Latino players in and around the NFL community. The two organizations are choosing to honor Latino youth football players throughout the league and also those that are coming through as a part of the next generation.

The Pittsburgh Steelers chose to nominate Gonzalez for the award, joining all 32 teams in the NFL to nominate a player, who then became the finalist for the AFC North as a whole.

He is of Cuban and Honduran descent, through his father Pete Gonzalez. Pete starred for Pitt in 1997, leading them to their first bowl game in eight years, throwing for 2,657 yards and 30 touchdowns. His most memorable performance came in a comeback victory over rival West Virginia in double overtime. Pete Gonzalez signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 1998 and spent that season and 1999 as a backup with the organization.

“My heritage comes from my dad,” Peter Gonzalez said in a press release. “He’s a Cuban Honduran American. And it means a lot to have that last name I got. He grew up in Miami, Florida. That whole side of my family is Hispanic.”

Peter Gonzalez made 47 receptions and led Central Catholic with 1,081 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior in 2023. He committed to Penn State over the summer over Miami and Virginia Tech in his top three schools. 247Sports ranked him as a three-star, N0. 20 recruit in Pennsylvania and the No. 104 wide receiver in his class, respectively.

A version of this story first appeared at our parter site, Pittsburgh Sports Now.