USD Football 1995

BETTER LATE junior to the point that one of the coach- es yelled at his players, "T his guy is 46 years old and he beat you guys up the hills." Roseberry may have been hurting, but those kinds of words just fueled his determination to survive and to excel. But he paid a fearsome physical toll. He began the 1994 season in training camp with tendinitis in both knees, and throughout his playing time he also suf- fered from Gulf War Syndrome, a myste- rious ailment that rendered him almost listless at times. He was bruised from head to toe; and both shoulders were damaged, his front and back biceps were bruised. But he never stopped working, pounding at his young adversaries as hard as they pounded at him, and he ear ned a spot on the roster, though knowing he wasn't going to play very much. As the 1994 season evolved, he stayed totallywithin the spirit of his team and final- ly,in the eighth game againstShippensburg, Leonzi put him in for three plays.Roseberry didn't make any tackles, but he hit some people and some people hit him back. Roseberry re membered each play. "On the first play, I lined up against the tackle and tight en d," he said . ''The tackle weighed about 285 pounds, the tigh t end about 250 and they double- teamed me. I handled it well. "I got into a fight with that tackle on the second play. He started calling me 'old man,' and stuff like that, and we stood toe to toe getting after each othe r while the referee just stood there with a smile on his face. "On the third play, I had pass-rush responsibilities, but the tackle cut-block me to the ground. I got up and chased the quarterback, but I didn 't get to him." And that was it-on the football field. A worsening shoulder injury precluded any more game time, and both coach and player admitted that his career had run its course. "It was a very emotional moment for both of us," Leonzi said , "because both of us had started together in pursuing our lifelong dreams." But the other dream-getting a col- lege degree in secondary education- still continues with a 3.0 average. "I'm going into a field where I can help peo- ple who are learning challenged as I

CONTIN U ED

was," he said. Last spring he was a candi- date for both Kutztown's School o f Education Excellence Award and for an award given to athletes who also achieve in the classroom. "It took more guts to face the acade- mic part than it d id to go out for foot- ball," he said . "I was going into a class- room with younger people and I won- dered whether I'd be accepted. More important, I had to overcome my learn- ing disability while pursuing my educa- tion. But I found that if I paid attention and listened closely to the lectures, I got more from them than relying so much on the text books." If he had any doubts during this entire experience, they were expunged by the positive reinforcement he got at the time from his fiancee (and now his wife), Abie Klapac. In the classroom, he compensated for h is dyslexia by using a tape recorder and buying two of each textbook, one for Abie to recite to h im while he uses the other to follow along

and visualize the words. Roseberry also attracted national fame during the 1994 season. Connie Chung came calling for CBS; so did ESPN and CNN. National writers showed up at Kutztown to interview him; and as his fame spread , there also came talk of a book deal, and a made- for-TVmovie involving former NFL play- er-turned-actor Alex Karras. He also has been to the White House, where he spent 15 minutes mee ting with President Clinton and his wife. "Imagine, the President said that he was proud of me and what I did, and then asked me to keep in touch with him as my career continued," he said . "I guess it doesn 't get much better than that." J ACK C L A R Y IS A FREELANCE SPORTS AUTHOR O F MORE THAN 50 BOOKS AND A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR TO TOUCHDOWN ILLUS· TRATED. HE IS THE NEW EST MEMBER OF FORDHAM'S ATHL ETIC HALL OF FAME.

Focus on the game, not on focusing. Follow the action from the quaiterback to the wide receiver 111th patented Pel'lna Focus• Never Neerls Focusing binoculars. The breakthrougl1 optical design provides a clear. crisp image 111th the convenience of never having to rocus. Keep your eye on tile ball with Penna Fbcus binoculars. See them at your nearest Bushnell clealc1:

BUSHnEL[ -~ Focusing 0 1995 Bushn~I Corporation. 181 iodicatesa registered trademaril of BushnellCorporation.

N e v e r N e e d s