Ex-Warsaw Track Star To Wed NFL Player
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Though their college diplomas came from fierce rivals, Kerry White and Paul Grasmanis will soon be family.
White, who graduated from Warsaw Community High School in 1992 as a two-time state track champ in the 800-meter before taking her talent to Florida State University, was recently engaged to the former Notre Dame football star Grasmanis. She will marry the Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle on May 10.
The two met in Orlando, Fla., in February 1999 while Grasmanis, a seven-year veteran of the National Football League, was attending a meeting of a Christian organization for athletes called Champions For Christ, a group he has belonged to for several years.
White, also involved in the group, was babysitting at the Orlando function.
"It's a ministry where we try and spread the gospel to the athletic world," said Grasmanis, listed in the Eagles' program as a 6-foot-3, 298-pounder. "It's an opportunity to reach people who are lost. The locker room is a dark place. We're a church-planning group. Everywhere we have bible studies we've successfully planted churches."
Grasmanis said there are nearly 80 NFL players involved in the group, while Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League is represented as well.
After White and Grasmanis met in Orlando, the two became friends, and then met again when Grasmanis was at a speaking engagement for the group in Atlanta, Ga.
The two were engaged in January 2003.
After their upcoming marriage, White plans to continue her involvement with Champions For Christ, ministering to fellow wives of the Philadelphia Eagles players.
"Athletes are so in front of people today," White said. "If you can reach athletes, you can reach more people. Athletes are people that people look at, they're role models."
Grasmanis, originally from Jenison, Mich., a small town outside of Grand Rapids, started three games at defensive tackle this past season for the Eagles. He recorded four sacks and 34 tackles for a team that lost to eventual Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship Game. [[In-content Ad]]
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Though their college diplomas came from fierce rivals, Kerry White and Paul Grasmanis will soon be family.
White, who graduated from Warsaw Community High School in 1992 as a two-time state track champ in the 800-meter before taking her talent to Florida State University, was recently engaged to the former Notre Dame football star Grasmanis. She will marry the Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle on May 10.
The two met in Orlando, Fla., in February 1999 while Grasmanis, a seven-year veteran of the National Football League, was attending a meeting of a Christian organization for athletes called Champions For Christ, a group he has belonged to for several years.
White, also involved in the group, was babysitting at the Orlando function.
"It's a ministry where we try and spread the gospel to the athletic world," said Grasmanis, listed in the Eagles' program as a 6-foot-3, 298-pounder. "It's an opportunity to reach people who are lost. The locker room is a dark place. We're a church-planning group. Everywhere we have bible studies we've successfully planted churches."
Grasmanis said there are nearly 80 NFL players involved in the group, while Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League is represented as well.
After White and Grasmanis met in Orlando, the two became friends, and then met again when Grasmanis was at a speaking engagement for the group in Atlanta, Ga.
The two were engaged in January 2003.
After their upcoming marriage, White plans to continue her involvement with Champions For Christ, ministering to fellow wives of the Philadelphia Eagles players.
"Athletes are so in front of people today," White said. "If you can reach athletes, you can reach more people. Athletes are people that people look at, they're role models."
Grasmanis, originally from Jenison, Mich., a small town outside of Grand Rapids, started three games at defensive tackle this past season for the Eagles. He recorded four sacks and 34 tackles for a team that lost to eventual Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship Game. [[In-content Ad]]