Val Jansante is a long way from his father earning acclaim as a receiver in the latter half of the 1940s — when some coaches considered the forward pass only slightly less subversive than socialism.
His distance from the elder Val Jansante starring for the Pittsburgh Steelers is literal too.
The younger Val Jansante – he and his father have different middle names – lives on the plains of western Nebraska. A community liaison for U.S. Representative Adrian Smith, his past and present intersected in Washington, D.C., a couple of years ago.
While Jansante was touring the Smithsonian Institute, he met a woman who held a lofty position at the iconic museum.