The Football Path
This is a compilation of stories about an individual journey from a small New England town to a small college program, two defunct spring football leagues, a year and a half on a practice squad, and finally, an active roster in the NFL. The objective of telling these stories is to help young people on their unique path to mastery in service to others, whether that be in professional athletics or another craft, subsequently creating a lasting impact in their community and our world.
I’ve never taken the time to talk a lot about my “career” before flying helicopters because anything beyond the quickest of summaries creates a lot of questions and many of those questions require a lot of explanation to answer. In fact, one of the reasons I decided to record some of my experiences is because my kids don’t even know how this adventure, which has really shaped my adult life, unfolded. I’ll start with a basic synopsis of each level :
Before high school – played almost every sport available to kids.
High school – worked hard in the weight room, football field, and basketball court. Mostly played basketball during the winter, spring, and summer with some baseball and track mixed in. I was a relatively unheralded player from a small state that produced only one FBS player the whole time I was growing up and averaged an FCS player every other season.
College – continued to work on my football “craft” finding ways to get more powerful, faster, and more agile. Was a one-year starting tight end, with a limited role on the team the previous three years at a FCS school.
Professional – started playing in a spring league that folded after one year. Went to pre-season camp with the Berlin Thunder, a team in the now defunct “NFL Europe” league. Was picked up as a fifth tight end on the New York Giants preseason roster. Spent three seasons on what was then a five man extended roster (“practice squad”) and the active roster for the New York Giants, Chicago Bears, and San Diego Chargers. I stopped pursuing professional football after being released by the Houston Texans in their inaugural season.
Six total professional teams, four different NFL organizations, five seasons. To say the least, it was a maturing experience.
After football, I considered pursuing a career in medicine, but was drawn to serve our country. The best fit for my wife and I was the Coast Guard. Initially the Coast Guard denied my application, due to a thyroid condition that ended my professional football career. Consequently, the lessons learned and perseverance required to accomplish my football goals was harnessed again in my attempt to embark on my military career, as I found myself navigating cumbersome waiver requirements to not only join, but to fly, in the Coast Guard.
After over twenty years of satisfying work serving in the Coast Guard and growing a family, Jacy and I are writing about some of these experiences in hopes that the stories might be useful to our kids and others who come behind. If you are interested, I’ll take you through, chronologically, some of the junctions and experiences that, in hindsight, resulted in my idiosyncratic path.