Courtney and w88 slot Bitonio met in the best possible way when they were both freshmen at the University.
w88 slot was the best possible way because of the way w88 slot happened.
w88 slot was perfectly imperfect.
A young man who throughout his life growing up in Long Beach, California had been a die-hard Kobe Bryant and Los Angeles Lakers fan was in the main lobby area of Argenta Hall, engrossed and seemingly unaware of anything else happening around him as his beloved Lakers and their star Kobe were in the middle of a pitched game on television.
A young woman who had grown up in Las Vegas, who was always a good and constant friend to others but who admittedly was never one to put herself out there, saw the young man watching a basketball game on television and decided to do just that.
“They had a TV downstairs that everyone could watch, and I saw this really cute guy watching basketball,” Courtney remembered. “I don&w88 slot;t what it was, but I just decided, ‘OK, I&w88 slot;m going to shoot my shot.&w88 slot;”
Cue the romantic music. The “meet-cutes” they always talk about in Hollywood&w88 slot;s best rom-coms don&w88 slot;t get any better.
Or do they?
&w88 slot;So I tried to have a conversation with him, but he was … totally disinterested,” Courtney said.
Unbeknownst to Courtney, Joel might&w88 slot;ve seemed disinterested. But he really wasn&w88 slot;t.
“The Lakers, especially back then, as they were playing for championships with Kobe, were always a really big deal to me,” Joel said. “So I was watching the Lakers game on TV in the main lobby area, and Courtney and her friend walked by and we talked and I&w88 slot;m also trying to watch the game and concentrate on the Lakers, but in the back of my head …”
Was the spark of something special.
“I was this young freshman, and I had no idea what it was all going to mean,” Joel said. “Courtney told me later she wouldn&w88 slot;t just walk up to anyone and start talking to some random person.
&w88 slot;So we just had this connection.”
Within a few days of that chance encounter in the lobby of Argenta Hall, the two, who shared a common circle of friends and made w88 slot a point to find out more about the person they had met in the lobby, became friends.
“We connected as friends, and ever since then, Courtney&w88 slot;s been my best friend,” said Joel, who from those early days as a freshman went on to become one of the greatest football players in Wolf Pack history. Chosen 35thoverall in the 2014 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, Joel is one of the finest offensive lineman in professional football. He was selected a first team All-Pro both in 2021 and 2022 and earned his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl selection, becoming the first Browns guard to accomplish the feat since Hall of Famer Gene Hickerson. The soon-to-be 10th-year pro and the longest-tenured current Brown has played every regular season offensive snap for Cleveland since 2017.
w88 slot and Courtney have been a couple ever since that chance meeting in Argenta Hall. w88 slot graduated from the University in 2013 with a degree in economics; Courtney graduated from the University in 2014 with a degree in human development and family studies.
When his professional football career in Cleveland beckoned following the NFL Draft in spring 2014, w88 slot was not long after that Courtney, once she had completed her studies, joined Joel there to start a life together. Married since 2016, they have two children: Zoey Grace, 4, and Benjamin Michael, who recently turned 2.
“Throughout this journey, we&w88 slot;ve grown together,” Joel said. “I told her, ‘I am going to marry you,&w88 slot; but it&w88 slot;s a huge commitment when we were both still pretty young, for her to move across the country to be there with me. Courtney graduated a semester after me, and ever since it&w88 slot;s been great. I&w88 slot;m just so happy about all of that, how I chose Nevada, met Courtney, was able to play Division I football and it&w88 slot;s worked out where we could start our family together.
&w88 slot;Nevada is always going to have a special place in our hearts because of what it means to the both of us.”
The Bitonios, not surprisingly given their backgrounds of having learned the value of giving back from an early age, have earned a reputation throughout the NFL and particularly in Cleveland as a family that is intimately involved with their community.
Joel was honored this past season as the Browns&w88 slot; nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Each year, one honoree is nominated from each NFL team in recognition of the player&w88 slot;s commitment to philanthropy and supporting communities. Joel&w88 slot;s record in these areas is remarkable. Just as being a first-team All-Pro means that Joel is at the top of his profession as a football player, being nominated as a team&w88 slot;s Walter Payton Man of the Year signifies that there is profound respect and appreciation for him as a person.
One of five 2022 team captains, Bitonio is the only three-time Professional Football Writers Dino Lucarelli Good Guy recipient, which recognizes a player&w88 slot;s professionalism and cooperation with media members. Joel and Courtney are ambassadors for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, which has not only included donating their time and money to the organization, but for the past two years having Joel serve as a co-chair of "Taste of the Browns," the group's largest fundraiser. Joel has participated in a Shop with a Pro event every year since joining the team, personally funding the night for Northeast Ohio youth each of the past five years.
Throughout 2022, w88 slot has identified multiple opportunities to raise awareness for A Kid Again Ohio, including by hosting a group of families during training camp and supporting the organization through My Cause, My Cleats. A Kid Again Northern Ohio aims to foster hope, happiness, and healing for children with life-threatening conditions and their families.
During his time in Cleveland, w88 slot has engaged in many Browns community events encompassing the team's commitment to education, youth football and social justice, including support of theStay in the Game! Get to School, Every DayNetwork; participating in Cleveland Browns Adapted Football League sessions; serving as a member w88 slot Browns social justice committee leadership council; and making multiple visits to children at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and individuals receiving treatment at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center.
“It&w88 slot;s a huge honor,” Joel said of being the Browns&w88 slot; Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2022. “I feel like I&w88 slot;ve always wanted to help the community, and it&w88 slot;s something that I learned very early on through my parents and how they went about helping others. It&w88 slot;s amazing, though, to look at what some of the winners of the award have done throughout the years. What people like Drew Brees and J.J. Watt have done for their communities … for lack of a better word, it&w88 slot;s just ridiculous what they&w88 slot;ve been able to do and the standard they&w88 slot;ve set in making their communities a better place. They&w88 slot;ve all done so much.
&w88 slot;I think given where I am in my life, and I know Courtney feels the same way, it would be a disservice for us not to do something to help our community. Everybody needs a helping hand.”
Courtney agreed with Joel, noting that throughout her life, her parents have always stressed the importance of helping &w88 slot;the person next to you.”
“I definitely think a lot of it was how I was raised,” said Courtney, a graduate of Las Vegas&w88 slot; Spring Valley High School. “It wasn&w88 slot;t seen as doing anything extra. It was taking care of the person next to you and making sure that they they are doing well.
“To me it&w88 slot;s not really doing anything out of the norm. It&w88 slot;s just something we&w88 slot;ve always wanted to do. We&w88 slot;ve been blessed, and we&w88 slot;re able to get involved to help people.”
On Friday, Wolf Pack Athletics announced that Joel and Courtney Bitonio had made a generous gift and pledge supporting the Bitonio Family Strength & Conditioning Center, which will be a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning center for future Wolf Pack football players. Joel cited the hard work and long hours he had put in at Cashell Fieldhouse and at Mackay Stadium, and said he hoped that the Bitonio Family Strength & Conditioning Center would do the same for &w88 slot;generations to come.”
“It&w88 slot;s how we can help kids and their trajectory,” Joel said. “Once I made the NFL and started to have a career, I eventually knew I wanted to help out the University.”
Joel said the example of his parents has always inspired him. His father, Mike, who himself was an excellent athlete and was known in the flooring industry for his craftmanship and was universally respected for always looking out for others, passed away unexpectedly in 2010 at age 45 when Joel was a redshirt freshman. The career of his mother, Debbie, who&w88 slot;s a third-grade teacher and continues to make a difference, is a constant reminder for Joel to be mindful of others and to take that extra step in learning who a person is and what dreams they might have.
Of his father, Joel said, &w88 slot;I am so thankful that I got 18 years with my dad. Thankful that I had 18 years, with the wish that he was still around for the grandkids and the family. I definitely take certain things that he did as a father and the way he raised us. The main thing was, and you always got this very clearly with him, was that he just loved his family. He would work hard, worked extra hours, would do extra things to help his friends, family and neighbors and give his shirt off the back to the people who needed it. And all of it was done so he could make sure our lives were better than what he had as a kid growing up.
“Now that I&w88 slot;m a dad with two kids, it blows my mind what he was able to do. You learn pretty quickly that time is very important … that time is the unstoppable force in our lives, and you need to make the most of it.”
Courtney, who before she joined Joel halfway across the country with the Browns, was teaching pre-school and was hoping to one day further pursue a career as a teacher, said she and her husband both make a concerted effort to understand where they are in their lives right now. Although the world of professional football can feel all-encompassing, w88 slot is important to both of the Bitonios that their lives maintain a sense of balance.
“We&w88 slot;re in a really unique part of our life that&w88 slot;s pretty fleeting,” Courtney said, “with both the kids, the ages they are, and the football.”
Most important of all, Courtney said, are the couple&w88 slot;s children and knowing they are being raised the right way.
“Joel and I talk about this all the time,” Courtney said. “Kids are like little sponges and they soak it all up, good, bad and indifferent. We try to put our best foot forward as parents. It&w88 slot;s hard to be ‘on&w88 slot; at all times, but we always try to set good examples.
“We want to teach them to be kind and treat others with kindness. It&w88 slot;s all about taking care of the person next to you. When you start with kindness, you&w88 slot;re showing them what it&w88 slot;s all about.”
In terms of kindness, w88 slot knows that he is lucky to be married to a person like Courtney.
“It&w88 slot;s one of those things where we&w88 slot;re a great team,” he said. “With the profession I&w88 slot;m in, in the NFL, I am just extremely grateful that I have that person who really is the backbone of our home and our family and our kids. It allows me to be the person I can be at football and at home. Courtney always keeps me level-headed and positive. When things aren&w88 slot;t going great at work, I come home … and all of that goes away.
&w88 slot;Courtney and the kids always bring the best out of me.”
Of Joel&w88 slot;s giving nature, Courtney said, “That&w88 slot;s just who he is. I would give a lot of credit to his parents. He&w88 slot;s always consistently the same person. Who you see on television in an interview is pretty much the same person you will see at home.”
Theirs is a shared history. It goes back far enough that it is part of the University&w88 slot;s history. Joel and his Wolf Pack teammates were part of the greatest victory in the University&w88 slot;s nearly 125 years of playing collegiate football on Nov. 26, 2010, when the 19th-ranked Wolf Pack rallied from a 17-0 first-half deficit to beat the nation&w88 slot;s third-ranked team, Boise State, 34-31, in overtime, before a national television audience on a freezing night at Mackay Stadium.
“There were so many good memories when we were students,” Courtney said. “Football-wise, beating Boise was an incredible memory. I don&w88 slot;t think I had any cold weather clothes, coming from Las Vegas. I remembered I borrowed one of Joel&w88 slot;s football hoodie things to wear to the game that night. He&w88 slot;s a little bit bigger than me and I looked like I was wearing a dress.
“I was in the student section with a bunch of my friends and that field goal (Anthony Martinez&w88 slot;s 34-yard game winner), once it happened, I don&w88 slot;t know if I was numb from the weather, but I remember hopping over the fence and running out on the field and going to find Joel. That was a really special moment.”
w88 slot paused, and took stock of his time at the University. She had come to campus on a Nevada Bound trip as a high school senior.
&w88 slot;I went to Reno and visited the campus and immediately fell in love with it,” she said. And in addition to finding her purpose and her person, she remembered what made her time at the University so special.
“Walking through campus is one of the most serene, beautiful experiences a person can ever have,” she said. “Especially if you catch it in the spring. It&w88 slot;s such a beautiful place, with so much history. I just love the Quad – the beautiful trees, seeing the students who are out playing frisbee or studying or are just sitting around there visiting, loving and living life.”
w88 slot was a place, Joel said, where the future started to come into focus for him. He dealt with tragedy with the passing of his father, and learned how to become an excellent student (he was twice All Mountain West All-Academic), a standout athlete and a reliable and respected teammate.
“I think in the back of my mind, I felt I wanted to be a NFL player,” Joel said. “But there was so much I had to learn first. I remember thinking pretty early on, ‘You know what, before you do anything else, you need to make sure you get to class first … you&w88 slot;ve got to learn how to study first … you&w88 slot;ve got to learn how to play college football first.&w88 slot; At first, it was always a one year at a time thing, always working to improve, to grind it out, to get better in all of things I was doing.
“And I guess it&w88 slot;s a bit of luck, too. The story would&w88 slot;ve been different if I hadn&w88 slot;t come to Nevada. San Jose State was my only other D-1 offer … there were a few other offers from schools like UC-Davis. But I went to Nevada. My whole life changed. I think a lot about how lucky I am that I did.
&w88 slot;Nevada gave me a shot and believed in me. And while I was going to school at Nevada, I met my wife in Argenta Hall.
&w88 slot;It was the perfect storm.”
