UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Kevin Kerr has faced many nerve-racking moments throughout his life.
The former Nittany Lion played in dozens of nail-biting contests over his 117-game hockey career with Penn State.
He scored his first career goal to tie a tight game against Ohio State before the team won in overtime, and was a member of Penn State's 2017 Big Ten Tournament championship team that won back-to-back double overtime games to capture the program's first conference championship.
But the most nerve-racking moment of his life? Filming the first episode of Family Feud.
"That was easily the most nervous I've probably ever been in my life," Kerr said. "The bright lights are on you. Steve Harvey walks out. I have no experience with that stuff on TV, it was very nerve racking."
Kerr and his mother, Carol, sister, Kaitlyn, aunt, Barbara Hays, and cousin, Kristine Hays, competed on five episodes of Family Feud this past season. Their journey to the game show started around Thanksgiving of 2020, when Kerr's aunt saw a Facebook Ad that Family Feud was looking for Philadelphia families to compete in the upcoming season. Longtime fans of the show, Kerr and his family jumped at the chance to audition.
After signing up, the five had to create a creative video that would make them stand out over the 3,000 other families who also wanted to be on the show.
"So, we all came over for Thanksgiving, we're in my family's backyard, and you had to create this catchy little jingle," Kerr explained. "Each person had to tell (the producers) a little bit about themselves, but we did it in a rhyming way… I had a hockey stick in my hand and my sister had a soccer ball in her hand and we made a rhyme about ourselves."
After passing the first step, Kerr and his family had a phone call with some members of the Family Feud team to discuss why they wanted to be on the show and their history. Finally, the group did a mock Family Feud game via Zoom with the team.
"They called our family, we all had to get dressed up… and we're standing in my family's living room, and a lady that works with Family Feud comes on and she acts like she's Steve Harvey," Kerr said. "The whole process is exactly how it is on Family Feud, you have to act like you're on the show. So, you have to have crazy enthusiasm… you either have to have a talent or be crazy, and we went with the crazy standpoint. We just acted like lunatics."
Having completed those three rounds, Kerr and his family traveled to Atlanta for an in-person audition with Family Feud. Even though the group easily passed the first three rounds of the audition process, there was no guarantee they would pass the final step. Auditioning in person is much different than making a video, talking over the phone, or doing a mock episode over Zoom. However, the group passed the last step of the process and were officially set to participate on Family Feud.
Kerr and his family competed under his mother and aunt's maiden name as the Wolowiec family, throughout the duration of the show.
Filming the show was incredibly enjoyable, according to Kerr. While some families on the show have been on other game shows before and know what the process is like being on TV, Kerr's family was new to the experience. So, they didn't know what to expect.
Steve Harvey and his team created a lighthearted environment and a day on the set was filled with jokes and funny moments.
"Steve is really good at reading the person right away and understanding them," Kerr said. "My mom, I love her to death, but she said some very funny things that didn't make much sense and (Harvey), gave his classic Steve reaction to those."
While the process was overall really entertaining, there were still some stressful moments for Kerr's squad.
"We played four straight games and won zero money, and we just had so much stress and anxiety in our fifth game," Kerr said. "'We're going to be the only family to ever play this game, play all five maximum games, and win zero money.' It was almost impressive at that point. And then, we won the final game which is the fifth one when you get a car, it was a really cool experience. It was really fun."
Outside of starring on Family Feud, Kerr has worked as a trading consultant in International Trade and Customs at KPMG since graduating from Penn State in 2019. And even though he played his final game inside Pegula Ice Arena well over three years ago, hockey is still a part of his life.
Kerr, who spent his final two seasons at Penn State in-and-out of the training room due to an ankle injury sustained during the 2016-17 season, hasn't played competitively since the 2019 Big Ten Championship game, a 3-2 loss at Notre Dame. However, the Bensalem, Pennsylvania native has continued to skate once a week at UPenn and recently got back into game action.
"I played for the Wharton Business School in a tournament," Kerr said. "It's an MBA league for post grad students at UPenn. [A few weeks ago] we traveled to Harvard to play Harvard, Cornell, and Dartmouth's business schools...We smoked everyone; I think our team was a little overprepared. We actually warmed up, our guys were running stairs beforehand and their guys kind of just showed up and were having beers on the bench, but it was such a fun tournament."
Family Feud has been an experience that will stick with Kerr, and his family, for the rest of their lives. After school as a kid, he would go to his grandfather's house and watch the show every day. His mother and aunt have always loved the show. Competing and meeting Harvey was an unforgettable experience.
"Meeting Steve was so cool. We played so many games with him that you feel like you kind of have a personal relationship with him. He knows you by name, he knows your personality, he talks to you personally. It was really cool," Kerr said. "He's just so much funnier in-person than he is on TV, because he can go full-reign. They chop the show up and edit it, but every other word out of his mouth is a swear word. It's just really fun… the whole thing was great."
