He was the little kid in the group, who had to wait while his big brothers Kelly and Tyler had their football moments at quarterback.
But that didn't slow down the ambition of Ryan Hilinski.
Nothing could do that, including a personal journey which took him from his home in Southern California to the University of South Carolina for a year and most recently to Northwestern, where he has been the past year and a half.
And a family tragedy which the Hilinski's must deal with on a continuing basis.
But that was not the main story this weekend when Northwestern took what will be its longest road trip of the season, an opening Big Ten game against Nebraska in Dublin, Ireland.
The main story was that Hilinski, the Wildcats' starter, was coming back to Ireland where his older Tyler played a game (and won) as a junior player in 2012.
That would be enough for some drama. But the story was enveloped in tragedy since Tyler, playing QB at Washington State, committed suicide in 2018.
Which was why as part Ryan's traveling gear was a patch from Tyler's jersey i n that 2012 game, something the Hilinski family cherishes.
Now there is more.
All Hilinski did on Saturday was throw for 313 yards and a pair of touchdown passes in Northwestern's 31-28 win over the two touchdown favorite Huskers.
"I mean it's pretty special. As soon as I saw my mom tonight, I was like, ‘The Hilinskis are now 2-0 in Ireland,'' said Hilinski after the game. "So definitely Ireland has got a special place in my heart, a special place in the Hilinskis' heart for sure.''
With all of that as a backdrop, Ryan Hilinski is TMG's Newsmaker of the Week.
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