I Said Football, Not Futbol

I’ve always loved having athletic parents. Though their physical abilities are becoming more and more limited due to the aches and pains of getting older, they always encouraged us to play new sports and would try their best to practice with us and learn more about the sport so they could better support us. Unfortunately for my mom, when she tried to play in her first indoor soccer league game, another woman crushed her, and she got to hear that trusty pop of a torn ACL. In my dad’s case, it was trying to skim board at the beach during our family vacation. That sound, you ask? Yep, another torn ACL.

As I navigated through the sports world and finally concluded that I wanted to play in college, they were super excited and often the driving force in getting me to contact schools. I’m pretty sure my dad was the one that told me to check out Slippery Rock and to email Jessie (my college coach). The reason he was so invested definitely had something to do with his competitive spirit, but also stemmed from the fact that he played Division I football at UMaine. His love of sports, his support, and his experience with college athletics created my desire to play in college. I wanted to be like my dad.

This week, enjoy an interview where we dive into his experience playing DI football in the 80s, famous teammates and the glory days. 

My comments are italicized.

When did you start playing football?

I started playing in August of 1977, when I was eight years old. I had wanted to play the year before, but my parents held me back because I was “too small”. I wasn’t really any bigger at eight but for whatever reason, I was allowed to that year. I had played soccer the first year it was available in town, but they only practiced and didn’t have games or scrimmages, so it sucked. My family were super big skiers, so I had also been skiing since I was four. Football was the last sport that I picked up.

What position did you play?

I played running back, QB for a little, linebacker briefly (I must have hit a growth spurt), and then my fifth year in Pop Warner, I became corner. Later in college, I would play corner and special teams.

Did you always want to play in college?

Yeah, so I always wanted to go Division I, that was my goal. I wanted to prove people wrong, nobody believed I could do it. Even though I probably would have played more and right away at the Division II level, I knew I wanted DI and I ended up at Maine.

Did Papa (his Dad) playing football at UMaine have any influence in you choosing to go to Maine?

I think it definitely helped. Almost every time they played at UNH (University of New Hampshire), we’d meet up with Dad’s old teammates and carpool to the games. They used to hold games in Portland once a year and I went with my high school teammates Steve Krasinsky and Pat Richards. Coach Murphy – the head coach my recruiting and freshman year – barely looked at me and just spoke to Steve because Steve was a physical specimen.

At one point leading up to my first year, Dad and I went to a game at Maine and Coach Murphy asked me, “So why do you want to come to the University of Maine?” I said, “to play football!” “WRONG. You’re coming here to get an education.” [laughs] I wish I had heard that question before I went to that visit, not that it mattered, but still.

Don’t worry, Dad. Student-athletes still get that question wrong.

What was the recruiting process like in the 80s?

There was no help, no guidance in the process at all. Honestly, my biggest help came from my high school English teacher, Mrs. Hickey, whose husband was super into hockey and had been involved in juniors. She encouraged me through the process and helped me create a highlight reel to send to schools. Merrimack High School wasn’t a hotbed for football, or even New Hampshire in general. It didn’t matter that we were undefeated or won states.

I talked to Springfield in Massachusetts some, Plymouth State, Bates, Bowdoin and Colby. A few of the schools wanted me to do a post-grad year, which I thought I was too smart for. Now, having worked in the school industry and having seen what some of those private boarding schools are like, I absolutely would have gone.

 Dana Hickey had a connection to Penn State, so I sent them my highlight reel and was invited for a recruiting visit. I met one of the coaches for breakfast, toured the facilities, and everything. The coach at breakfast told us he couldn’t pay because of NCAA rules, but my parents and I didn’t care, we just loved the experience. I never heard back from them, but it was still awesome. I think my freshman year of college they ended up winning the national championship. If I had even made the team as a tackling dummy I would have gotten a national championship ring.

Once you got to Maine, did you like it?

I mean yeah, it’s just school. It was 1988 and I had come from the Shrine game the week before I had to report, so my buddy Steve and I had been doing doubles for that week in 90 plus degree weather. I would later find out that a guy from the Vermont team that beat us, Adam Knudsen, would be my future teammate and good friend. Anyway, when I got to preseason I showed up in football shape. It was intimidating right out of the gate because some of the guys were huge, but it wasn’t too hard. Though I was quickly introduced to some very talented receivers who made me look silly.

So, did you ever play?

My freshman year, I didn’t play at all. Jason and I would dress for home games and wouldn’t travel for away games. This is hilarious. So, we used to always rush to the locker room to shower right after the game before anyone else did so we could get out of there quickly. One day, this huge group of kids is waiting by the gate for autographs, so Jason and I stopped and signed autographs. I couldn’t even write my number because it changed every week when they gave me a new uniform to wear to the game. 

My sophomore year I played a lot. Coach Murphy ended up accepting a job at Harvard and took everyone but Jack Cosgrove – the QB coach and offensive coordinator – with him. In came Coach Lichtenberg and his staff. Spring ball went really well, I returned a kick-off in the blue and white game and of course Melissa (my mom) was watching the blue and white soccer game over the edge of the bleachers and missed it. That summer, I worked super hard and went from my freshman weight of 165lbs to 190lbs entering my sophomore year.

I quickly became second string at left corner behind Billy Curry, who was one of two freshmen from my class to play the year before. Our new coach was doing something completely different with special teams, focusing more on it and making it more offensive. It was awesome. I was in kick-off, kick-off return and punt return – it was so much fun. I ended up blocking a punt against UNH at Maine.

The new staff also implemented some new traditions like “Be The Hammer”.  It was a weekly achievement for the best game-changing play in the game. The winner of the sledgehammer from the previous game kept it all week and then led the team onto the field carrying it at the next game. I ended up winning the sledgehammer 3 or 4 times that year. In a speech that one of the coaches gave before I got it for the first time, he said, “Yeah, we weren’t even sure we were going to bring Scott back for his sophomore year, but we’re glad we did.”

Sports Illustrated ended up coming to do a piece on us called “The Beast from Down East” because we were doing so well that year. I won the sledgehammer the week before and after the article, so I didn’t end up getting mentioned at all. I was pretty jealous of John Ballard who had it that week.  

I had some awesome plays that year. I blocked a punt at URI, which a teammate ended up picking up and returning. The next punt, two guys hit me so hard that my helmet snapped back and sliced open the back of my neck. I never fell down but they drove me back maybe 30 yards, straight into the sideline. When I came off, they slapped a bandage on my neck, but it was driving me crazy so I ripped it off and just kept playing.

Yeah that wouldn’t fly today. You can’t just bleed all over the field.

One of your coolest memories?

We ended making the 1AA playoffs and even though we were the higher seeded team, the NCAA decided to have us play at Southwest Missouri State (now just Missouri State) because they thought more fans would go there. I had to miss Thanksgiving and got to spend it with my teammates. We practiced in the snow and I stayed at Melissa’s apartment alone, which was weird. We flew out there, knocked their starting QB out of the game in the first quarter. Unfortunately, their back-up was just as good. I think they ended up winning 52-48 or something ridiculous like that, it was more of a basketball score than a football one.

Can you walk me through you quitting?

After that fall, Coach Lichtenberg had accepted a job at Ohio University and left with everyone but Jack Cosgrove again. Our new coach was Kirk Ferentz, who is now the head coach at Iowa. He brought a defensive back coach with him that I absolutely couldn’t stand which didn’t help. My sophomore season got done and I realized that the goals that I had set for myself before college, I had accomplished that fall season. I wasn’t super motivated that winter and when spring season came, I ended up getting hurt.

One of the problems with new staff coming in is that they look at the roster and the non-scholarships kids and immediately you’re at the end of the line again. I had worked so hard to be the back-up corner on the left side and now I had to earn my spot, again. I thought I had proved myself in the prior season and I just didn’t have the motivation in the same way anymore.

Despite feeling that way, I worked out all summer and talked with my parents and my future wife, Melissa about it. Finally, your mom asked me why I would stay and honestly the only reason I wanted to go back was because UMaine was going to play the University of Hawaii at Hawaii. She said, “Scott, my aunt lives there. If you want to go to Hawaii, don’t worry, we’ll go.” I called Coach Ferentz and told him I wasn’t returning, and he let me know that if I ever wanted to come back, he’d love to have me.

Two years later, when I was taking Methods of Teaching and Coaching Football as a college course, the new coach at the time called me and told me they had a ton of injuries and wanted to know if I’d be willing to come back. Even though they offered me scholarship money, I said no. At that point I was just done. Also in those two years, I had torn my ACL for the first time playing football with my buddies. In hindsight, I wish I had never stopped and just stuck with it.

Did you ever play with anybody that went to the NFL?

Three of the guys from my sophomore season ended up playing in the NFL. Mike Buck (Saints, Cardinals & Dolphins), Dan Jones (Bengals), and then Justin Strzelczyk (Steelers). Justin was actually the one who died from CTE in 2004 and is [portrayed] in that movie with Will Smith. I was definitely freaked out hearing about his death and CTE and it’s made me wonder about things over the years. But yeah, I’ve known some guys who played in the NFL. I played with a few that now coach in the NFL too.

Despite having lived with my dad for my entire life, I never knew all of this. While he shared some fun stories or career highlights over the years, I never would have sat down and discussed everything in depth the way that I did for this interview. I’d encourage you to do the same with your family! Don’t just ask the fun questions, ask the hard ones too. It might just give you a different perspective.

Note: For me, I just understand his dad-isms a little better and why he refused to let me quit anything over the years.