as i said before, NFLEurope gives a lot of white guys opportunities. here's another great story...our guy is "Bubba" Ventrone. he's the one delivering the hit!
The strong in safety
March 29, 2006
By Mike Trudell
NFL Europe
We turn to you for protection, Holy Mother of God. Listen to our prayers and help us in our needs. Save us from every danger, glorious and blessed Virgin.
He first heard the words from his father at a time in his life during which they struck a special chord on his life's guitar. They are words from the Bible that are now somewhere Centurions strong safety Raymond "Bubba" Ventrone will never forget:
Inscribed on the upper part of his left arm.
Ventrone got the tattoo as a tangible reminder of strength and protection after undergoing what he said was the toughest thing he had ever overcome in his life.
In the fall of 2004, Ventrone was playing like the preseason All-American that he was, off to a great start to his senior campaign at Villanova. His and the collective hope of Ventrone's family that he reach the NFL was very close to becoming reality. And then, in the fourth game of the 2004 season at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Bubba was trying to get off a block when his foot got caught underneath him.
Crack. Uh-oh.
Bubba's mom Denise was at that game just as she had been throughout his football career. Now visiting her son in Cologne, she could not hold back a mother's tears when thinking about her boy being hurt.
"At first I thought it was leg cramps, so for a couple of seconds that is what I was hoping," she said. "But I knew it wasn't cramps. My son was hurt. I think it was so tough and upsetting for me because I knew Raymond was so upset about it.
"At the hospital, the nurse asked me if I had seen the replay. I said no, I didn't, and as she had seen it earlier she told me not to watch it. To this day I have never watched the replay."
The result was a broken ankle, a fractured fibula, and a tear of the deltoid ligament on the inside of Ventrone's foot. He was in a cast for 11 weeks with a huge screw in his foot, and wasn't able to walk on his foot for three months. College football career over, Bubba's injuries would also prevent him from competing in the NFL combine.
"When I got hurt, I was distraught," reflected Ventrone. "My mind was in 100 different places. Everybody wants to play in the NFL, and I had a legitimate shot. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to come back and work out for scouts, and it hurt."
Let's pause here.
Football may 'just be a game' in the larger, broader context of life, and Ventrone is the first to acknowledge that. Yet sports truly are a microcosm of life and society writ large, with so many essential and irreplaceable values like perseverance, dedication, hard work and teamwork embodied inside the game. Those are all of the things an athlete thinks about when it seems as if it has all been taken away. Becoming an All-Atlantic 10 honoree and NFL hopeful had claimed so many years of the proverbial blood, sweat and tears from Bubba and his family. When the injury first happened, Bubba's first thoughts were those that might arise in any athlete: Will I be able to play again? Is it over? How bad is it? But that pondering soon gave way to the wave of determination and work ethic that Bubba had ridden to reach the field in the first place.
"I remember looking at him and saying, 'I'm not ready for this to be over,'" said Denise. "He looked at me and said, 'Mom, this isn't over.' I felt better after that, because I knew that he wanted more, and that he was not going to stop until he got there."
Bubba's dad had introduced him to the game at the age of eight, and coached him all the way through high school. The plethora of sacrifices (and road trips) made along the way by his parents did not go unnoticed.
"Honestly, without the support of my parents, I really don't know if I would have gotten through it," said a pensive Bubba. "It was very difficult, but I knew I had to get focused. I knew I could still reach my goal."
Bubba's doctors and training staff at Villanova - whom both he and his mother called superb - told him that he could be back in time for his pro day at the beginning of April, when NFL staffers travel to various schools to observe players. Getting ready for that day became Bubba's singular focus.
"I put my whole life outside of football on hold, and it was football 24-7," explained Bubba. "I didn't do anything. I had no social life at all, because I knew what my goal was. I knew I had to work hard."
A successful surgery just a day after the injury and aggressive workouts even while in his cast helped Bubba get ahead of schedule in his rehab, and it looked like he would be nearly 100 percent come pro day in April.
"He is a very hard worker with anything he does, and whether it is schoolwork or athletics, he gives it more than 100 percent," said Bubba's number one fan. "That's how I knew he was going to be OK once the dust settled."
Oh yeah, schoolwork...despite leaving school every Thursday afternoon to drive an hour to York, Pennsylvania, where he trained until Monday for the duration of his senior year, Bubba managed to graduate from a tough Villanova finance program with a 3.3. g.p.a. But York was the best way for him to reach the NFL, at a gym where trainer Steve Saunders works with several Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles.
When pro day (at Villanova) finally came, Bubba ran in the low 4.4s in the 40-yard dash, and had work outs with several teams, including the New England Patriots. With the help of his agent Joe Linta - also the supplier of his York workouts - New England would sign Bubba as an undrafted free agent on April 28, 2005. He made New England's practice squad, where he spent the entire season.
Bubba was on an NFL team.
"I felt like I contributed to the team, and I did anything they needed me to do," said Ventrone. "I ended up playing scout team safety or corner, but also running back for three quarters of the season."
He had rushed for over 3,000 yards and 36 touchdowns as a high school running back at Chartiers Valley High School in his hometown of Pittsburgh, and certainly wasn't going to say no when the Patriots asked him to contribute in myriad ways. He was very happy in an organization synonymous with success, and learned a lot from characters such as safety Rodney Harrison, whom Bubba credits with lending perspective - such that he had learned from his parents - to the rookies.
A week after New England lost at Denver in the playoffs this past January, Bubba found out he would be heading to Europe.
"They said I needed some game experience, and I felt good about it," recalled Ventrone. "For my situation, I know that I needed this. I'm having a great time here. The guys on the team are cool, and it feels good to be back on the field and fly around doing what I love doing."
Denise wasn't so sure about her boy crossing the Atlantic at first, but she certainly came around.
"I was a little nervous at first because I didn't know what to expect," she reasoned. "But we talk everyday, and he really likes it in Cologne. Now that I'm here, it's beautiful. It's an experience about which I'm very happy, and happy with where he is."
Mrs. Ventrone got to watch her son tie for the team lead in tackles (6) and force a fumble against the Amsterdam Admirals this past Sunday, and it made her so happy to see her son having fun again on the football field that her smile remained noticeable two days later.
That's not to say she did not call upon the verse written on her son's left arm. That she's very proud of her son is not because he is playing good football again, but because of all the hard work he undertook to get there, the obstacles he conquered that will serve him long after he plays his last snap. Perhaps that recollection is the source of her tears.
Holy Mother of God...save us from every danger, glorious and blessed Virgin.
Bubba doesn't need to look down at his left arm to feel protected.
His mother is right there.
