Introduction

It’s been twelve years since the day I put on my first football helmet, a moment in my life that I’ll forever be thankful for. Football has meant the world to me and I don’t think many people can say they have consistently done something they’ve loved for twelve years. In this blog post, I want to share my experiences throughout the years and how this sport has played a major role in making me the person I am today.

Early Years

Like most people who play or have played football, they started their athletic careers playing soccer at a young age. I started playing soccer around the age of six and had played all the way until I was eleven. It wasn’t until I was twelve that I decided to play football for the Waterford Lancers Youth Micro A’s team. A big contributor to the reason for me playing was my older brother, Michael. He had been playing on varsity for our town’s high school team and was a stand out linebacker and fullback. Having an older brother who was as good as he was at football influenced me to give the sport a shot.

In my first few years, I struggled. I was smaller than most of the kids on my team and I could never really hold a starting spot at any position. I shared time at quarterback, but rarely took any snaps, and I also rotated in at cornerback. It wasn’t until my last year of youth ball, in 2007, that I had an actual starting spot and became one of the team captains. That year was special to me. Football had finally given me that fulfillment that I had been looking for and I had been doing really well to the point where I only wanted to get better.

The next year, going into high school, I competed in freshman football and had picked up where I had left off in youth ball. I played quarterback and safety and shined throughout the year. Halfway throughout the season I had been doing well enough to be called up to junior varsity and had stayed there for the remainder of the season. My sophomore year I had only spent a small amount of time on junior varsity and spent the majority of the season on varsity.

My senior year was probably one of the most memorable years of my life in regards to football. Voted a team captain, starting at quarterback and free safety, I had one of the strongest seasons of my career. I didn’t have the flashiest of statistics on offense: 815 passing yards, 277 rushing yards, and only 5 interceptions. On defense: 76 tackles, 6 interceptions (2 for touchdowns), and 10 pass breakups. Before graduating I had received numerous accolades including The Norwich Bulletin All-Area 1st Team, The New London Day All-Area 1st Team, All-Eastern Connecticut Conference 1st Team, and 1st Team Defense All-State Medium Division.

Norwich Bulletin: Brian Gencarelli (Article written by Marc Allard of the Norwich Bulletin in regards to my final season in high school)

College Football

Coming out of high school, I received a few letters from colleges asking to play football at their school. Many of them were small division III schools that offered no money towards tuition or scholarships (Worcester State University, Western Connecticut State University, Western New England University, and Nichols College), and one division I AA school (Central Connecticut State University).

It took me about a month to make my decision where I wanted to go, but in the end I decided to attend Worcester State. Playing football in college was a whole other animal that I did not expect and required much more time and effort, but I loved every aspect of it and played all four years and started each year at strong safety on defense. My senior year I was voted captain by my teammates and had a season to remember, recording 49 tackles, 1 interception, and 9 pass breakups, and was also nominated 2nd Team All-Worcester Area Defensive Back, after the season.

 

Life After College Ball

After concluding my long twelve-year football career, I look back at all the incredible times that I experienced and the people I’ve met along the way and couldn’t be more thankful for it all. These are memories that I will have for the rest of my life and will be something I cherish forever.

Life after football has been strange to me. It’s weird not having practice every day, or having the aches or bumps and bruises, or playing every Saturday. But, I know that all good things must come to an end and you have to move on. Since I had an extra semester left of school, I decided to volunteer as a student assistant coach for the Worcester State Football Team. This case I could still be around the sport I love and could also give back to the program, coaches, and team that gave me the opportunity of a lifetime.

All of this wouldn’t have been possible without my family, who constantly supported me throughout all twelve years and coming to every game, no matter the location, and just being there for me whenever I needed them, so to them I say thank you.