After playing in 117 matchups for Penn State men’s hockey across a four-year career, former defenseman Kevin Kerr is no stranger to drowning out external noise in high-stakes moments.

However, according to the Pennsylvania native, the nerves felt in program-defining contests, including the 2017 Big Ten Tournament championship game, paled in comparison to the stress from filming the Family Feud with Steve Harvey alongside several close-knit family members.

Following a long audition process, Kerr, his mother (Carol), sister (Kaitlyn), aunt (Barbra Hays), and cousin (Kristine Hays) received the opportunity to compete in five episodes of the hit game show at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia. In four of the five episodes, which all aired in season 23, Kerr and his family left with zero earnings. But in the final showing, the five-person panel struck gold by taking home all of their accumulated earnings, plus a brand-new car.

For Kerr, who graduated from Penn State in 2019, the process for reaching game-show triumph began long before greeting Harvey within the program’s Atlanta-based studio. On Thanksgiving weekend in 2020, Kerr’s aunt looked into an advertisement on Facebook, which, at the time, was seeking families located across the Greater Philadelphia area to compete in the upcoming season of the show.

As longtime viewers, Kerr’s group, who filed their application under the Wolowiec family (Kerr’s mother’s maiden name), immediately inquired about the next steps in the comprehensive interview process. After signing up, the crew of five produced a promotional video showcasing the family’s unique and individual personalities. Ultimately, the short production proved to be charismatic enough to catapult the group over 3,000 other families who also auditioned for the same position.

At the height of the pandemic, Kerr and his family were forced to play a mock Family Feud clash on Zoom with members of the program’s production staff on the other end of the video conference. In order to impress the Family Feud’s selection team, Kerr helped wow the committee by displaying a level of enthusiasm to the point of craziness, according to the former defenseman.

Subsequently, Kerr and his family received the nod to appear in the studio with Harvey, which first aired in October 2021. Despite falling short in their first four attempts at glory, Kerr said that the family’s overall experience with Harvey was just as enjoyable and hilarious as the long-time host makes it seem on TV.

To watch the entirety of Kerr and the rest of the Woloweic family’s pursuit of greatness, full episodes of the Family Feud can be streamed on the Game Show Network’s website. For more about Kerr’s story on the Emmy award-winning program, click here.