J: How did you come to Columbia? Who recruited you and what was the recruitment process like?
M: The recruiting process at our school was interesting. When the Division 1-A schools looked at our game film, they mostly were focused on my teammate Chris Parker, who was a 6-7, 290-pound defensive lineman who played next to me.
Parker went on to be a Parade All-American and star at WVU. My 5-10, 220-pound frame obviously didn't excite the Division 1-A schools. A number of Division 1AA schools from the Ivy League and Patriot League recruited me.
That was when I met Jim Benedict, Columbia's Freshman Coach at the time. He met with me in our guidance counselor's office and literally unveiled a model of the Wein Stadium.
He said the stadium was under construction, that they were playing games in Giants Stadium and invited me for an official visit. Benedict was a class act and on my visit did all he could to keep my parents calm.
As you can imagine, the initial idea of their son living in New York City didn't sit too well my parents who had lived their lives in a small farm community in eastern Pennsylvania.
Ultimately, I focused on the long-term and felt that an Ivy League education would create many more opportunities for me down the road as opposed to a Patriot League school.
In my business today, I don’t come across too many Patriot football alums. But I run across Ivy League football alums all the time.
J: What do you remember about your first training camp and the 1984 freshman football season?
M: Our first training camp was up at Baker Field. It was my first exposure to the infamous bus ride, which in those days was straight through Harlem. Certainly an eye opener for me.
Breakfast was a chocolate donut from "Twin Donut" and an orange juice. Hardly the breakfast of champions. In terms of the Freshman team, the diversity of the athletes was quite astounding.
We had some great athletes...we also had some offensive linemen who looked as if they'd never seen a squat rack in their lives...a vast departure from my high school days.
In all, as a team we developed a bond that was an "us vs. the world" mentality. And, while we are the class known for not winning a single game in four years...I'm here to remind you that we did win our very first Freshman game against Lafayette.
It may not count in the NCAA record books, but it was nice to play near my hometown and get a win.
It is important to note that there were 11 players from that freshman team that had the fortitude and commitment to play all four years and not experience a win as a varsity player.
Each of us handled the tough times in a different manner but all told, we believed that we could win as a team at Columbia. We played through adversity and used that experience to “wins” in our careers and personal lives after we graduated.
The names of these 11 players are: Mike Bissinger, Phil Fusco, George Gianfrancisco, Mike Lavelle, Dave Putelo, Nick Leone, John Miller, Tony Natola, Rich Ritter, Paul San Fillipo, and Matt Sodl.
0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete