{"id":13211,"date":"2014-11-06T08:46:59","date_gmt":"2014-11-06T08:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/path-to-the-purple-fam-michael-nicastros-journey-3\/"},"modified":"2014-11-06T08:46:59","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T08:46:59","slug":"path-to-the-purple-fam-michael-nicastros-journey-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/path-to-the-purple-fam-michael-nicastros-journey-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Path to the Purple Fam: Michael Nicastro\u2019s journey"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Shane Marshall<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n

sports.asp@gmail.com<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Glenn<\/p>\n

Glenn Nicastro (right) was his son Michael\u2019s (left) first coach. Photo by UAlbany Athletics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> Bob Ford Field isn\u2019t Asgard, and Michael Nicastro is no superhero, but the University at Albany middle linebacker looks eerily similar to Marvel comic icon Thor. At five-feet-11 inches tall, Nicastro\u2019s long blonde hair and 210 pound frame could easily fill in for Chris Hemsworth if Stan Lee ever needed a stunt double.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> Nicastro leads UAlbany in tackles this season, and with a combination of strength and speed, it\u2019s fair to say Nicastro could be Thor\u2019s Hammer. Anything he can do to read a play before the snap, he does. Nicastro is always looking for an edge. At his size, he\u2019s not a prototypical linebacker, and he\u2019s the first to admit he\u2019s small for the position.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> \u201cI always try to look at the smaller linebackers,\u201d Nicastro said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter who it is, I like to see how they play, because sometimes it\u2019s harder. You can\u2019t see much being a shorter linebacker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> Born the oldest of three boys to Maria and Glenn Nicastro, Michael was always getting shut down by his father whenever he asked to play football. His father, a former tight end at Ohio University and Cleveland Browns tryout, was always worried that his son would get hurt. It wasn\u2019t until his mom convinced his dad that young Michael should play.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> \u201cMy dad was a pretty good coach,\u201d Nicastro said. \u201cHe taught me everything I know, up until college.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> In third grade, Nicastro got his first shot at football with the Columbia Ravens.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> \u201cBack then I was a fullback and linebacker,\u201d he said. \u201cWith a t-bone face mask not knowing what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> As Nicastro progressed each season, his father constantly convinced him of the effort he would need to put into football. Games would get tougher, competition would get better, and talent alone wasn\u2019t going to get Nicastro everywhere. He recalled, \u201cMy dad always used to say, \u2018Your life is short so you have to love [football] to put all this hard work in.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> In high school, Nicastro made the transition to playing only defense, being used as a linebacker and safety.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> After his senior season at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Nicastro doubted that he\u2019d ever see the football field again. He wasn\u2019t being recruited heavily by any large schools. He constantly heard of opportunities to become part of a D-II or D-III program, but none of those truly captured his interests.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> \u201cI was scared I wasn\u2019t going to play football after high school for a while,\u201d Nicastro said. \u201cSigning Day was Feb. 1 when I was in school, Albany didn\u2019t contact me until December or January.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> It might\u2019ve been his only D-I offer, but what really sold Nicastro on becoming a Great Dane has been the team motto for the past few seasons, the Purple Fam.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> \u201cIt felt like home,\u201d Nicastro said. \u201cWhen I visited, the whole UAlbany thing was \u2018Purple Fam\u2019 and it stood out to me that it held true. Even today, the older guys bring in the younger guys and no one looks down on anyone else. It\u2019s all family oriented.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> Coming in as a freshman, it wasn\u2019t a surprise that Nicastro barely saw the field. The first time he saw a depth chart, he was fourth on the list of outside linebackers. Following his first season, he heard over and over that it\u2019d be tough for him to play with many seniors ahead of him. However, injuries to other players led to Nicastro playing in his second year, and he\u2019s held on to his spot ever since.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> This offseason, new coach Greg Gattuso named his pre-season captains, and Nicastro wasn\u2019t one of them. Everything he heard growing up fueled a desire to earn his way to the captiancy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> \u201cI knew I had to step it up a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was definitely something I wanted. I had to start taking on more of a leadership role.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> Before the start of the season, Gattuso named Nicastro a captain, and his work ethic supports the coach\u2019s decision. Nicastro loves watching film, and does so before each game.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> Every season Nicastro realizes that new recruits are brought in to replace the veterans. It\u2019s up to the veterans to determine how soon they get replaced.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> \u201cI never feel like I\u2019ve made it,\u201d Nicastro said. \u201cI\u2019m always working to get to the next step. I have to get better, there\u2019s always a next step to your game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> The dream for Michael Nicastro is the same as any football player who lives, breathes, eats, and loves his sport. He wants to get that rare opportunity to play in the NFL. He can\u2019t picture his life without football in it. If it all were to end tomorrow, he\u2019d want to be a coach, or anything to stay close to the game.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> He isn\u2019t the best player in the CAA, but he\u2019s one of Gattuso\u2019s young stars, with very high ceiling of potential. Nicastro is just another member of the Purple Fam trying to push that ceiling further upward. It isn\u2019t going to happen overnight, but the change isn\u2019t hard to see. UAlbany was 1-11 last season, and is currently 6-3 this season, their second year competing in the CAA.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> With two more seasons left, Nicastro is expecting big things out of himself and his teammates.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> \u201cIndividual honors are great,\u201d Nicastro said. \u201cBut ultimately, I care more about what we accomplish as team.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\nThe Albany Student Press<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shane Marshall Staff Writer sports.asp@gmail.com Glenn Nicastro (right) was his son Michael\u2019s (left) first coach. Photo by UAlbany Athletics. \u00a0\u00a0 Bob Ford Field isn\u2019t Asgard, and Michael Nicastro is no superhero, but the University at Albany middle linebacker looks eerily similar to Marvel comic icon Thor. At five-feet-11 inches tall, Nicastro\u2019s long blonde hair […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[983],"tags":[3979,3261,3978,3977,1298],"class_list":["post-13211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-albany-student-press","tag-journey","tag-michael","tag-nicastros","tag-path","tag-purple"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13211"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techiteens.com\/review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}