Sav Rocca

[LarryNJ]

Sav had another very good game lastnight. The battle for the job has to be leaning a little towards him. As you watch the video at the end of the article notice that they mention the AFL. Meanwhile John Madden (the old ass announcer) said Rocca is a rugby player from Australia.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/...urgh-save-sav/

[LarryNJ]

Sav gets to visit my hometown!

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...5-2722,00.html



Is the battle for punter over?

http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/s.../27/155929/160

[LarryNJ]

Congrats Sav and welcome to Philadelphia. It's going to be a fun year! Next week in the first game I think he'll be the Oldest rookie ever to play in the NFL.

Veteran punter Dirk Johnson, who spent the last four seasons with the Eagles, also was released. Johnson was beaten out by Sav Rocca, a former Australian rules football player.

Rocca averaged 45.4 in the preseason with a net average of 38.9 yards. Johnson had a gross average of 43.9 yards and a net of 34.8 yards. Last season, Johnson averaged 42.6 yards gross, the highest of his career but 18th overall in the NFL.

"That was the hardest decision we had to make," Heckert said. "It was really close. I think Dirk will be punting for somebody next week. It was a close competition, but we decided to go with Sav because he has a big, big, leg."

[slomo]

also here
http://realfooty.com.au/news/news/ro...067438385.html

[JediKnight]

Well done, Sav!!!

[Burgs]

Sav Rocca’s costly punt on new NFL career

by Darren Walton - Yesterday

People see him kick a football - albeit a very, very long way - and think he’s got a pretty cushy job.

When they hear how he’ll earn more than $US1.1 million ($A1.33 million) over the next three years - and possibly more - for doing it, those very same people might even think Sav Rocca’s living the dream.

Maybe he is.

But they don’t know the half of it, the gambles involved and sacrifices Rocca has had to make just to get where he is.

Even though he’s not even there yet.

When the 33-year-old former Collingwood and Kangaroos star runs onto the famed Lambeau Field in the Philadelphia Eagles’ No.6 jumper against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday (3am Monday AEST), lauded as the oldest rookie in American Football history, Rocca knows there are no guarantees.

His new career might be over before it even really begins.

“I could actually be out of a job tomorrow,” Rocca told AAP after Eagles training in Philly today.

“They might not have liked the way I punted today.”

This kind of thing happens in the cut-throat world that is the NFL.

“They had one kid come in,” Rocca recalls. “He was a quarterback, they tried him out for one training session and he was gone the next day. He didn’t even play.

“It’s how a contract works here. Because I’m a rookie, I just signed up for a rookie’s wage here for three years and, if I get cut, I’m not guaranteed anything.”

And it’s been like this for months for Rocca, who admits to having felt the strain - emotionally and financially - ever since arriving in the US in April with hopes, a CV, a mighty right boot and not much else.

“You know, I’ve been over here for five months and mentally it’s been challenging,” Rocca says.

“Because for five months I haven’t known if I’ve got a job.

“I’ve probably spent close to 80 to 90 thousand dollars before I’ve even gotten a pay cheque.

“I’ve forked out for everything pretty much, so I’ve put a lot of money into this. Hopefully now it’s going to work.

“But we’re probably not going to see a profit probably for another year or two, so it is challenging.”

When Rocca says ‘we’, he also means wife Rose and sons Matthew, 5, and Lucas, 2.

All four suffered while waiting for the good news which only came last Friday when Rocca received a congratulatory phone call from Dirk Johnson - his rival for the job as the Eagles’ punter and holder - to graciously let the retired AFL great know he’d won a start, at his own demise.

“It’s getting easier by the day, I think, as well as it’s getting harder,” Rocca says.

“It’s harder to be away from my family and friends. Not so much for me, but for my wife and kids because they don’t get to see anyone or get out of the house much at the moment.

“But I’m sure that will change in the next couple of weeks when we start.”

The uncertainty surrounding Rocca’s future has been particularly difficult for Matthew, who was due to start school in America yesterday.

“But we haven’t actually bought a house or settled down in the spot where we want to stay, so he’s actually not in school,” Rocca said.

“We’re pretty much taking a risk if we send our kids to school or anything because you can end up moving states two or three times or whatever.

“So it’s a little bit uneasy.

“Hopefully we will get something in the next month and he’ll probably go to school pretty soon after that.”

Things could have been even worse.

Not looking for sympathy but setting the record straight, Rocca revealed that when he initially sent letters to all 32 NFL clubs expressing his interest in giving the game a go, only two replied.

And they both said thanks but no thanks.

Not until the agent of fellow former AFL player Ben Graham, who plays for the New York Jets, stepped in to help out did the Eagles give Rocca a crack.

Even then, there were still no guarantees.

Until receiving his call from Johnson, Rocca admits he had doubts he would make it, especially after an unconvincing final pre-season trial in the Eagles’ 13-11 loss to the Jets last week when his hands failed him.

In his additional but no less important role as holder for ace kicker David Akers, Rocca fumbled a snap pass and was unable to place the ball for his teammate’s field goal attempt.

Fortunately, what Rocca didn’t know was that the Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid had apparently pretty much already made up his mind after the Australian recruit’s spirited performances against the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers in his first three trials.

Widely-aired footage of Rocca being poleaxed on debut by the Baltimore linebacker might have drawn laughs in Australia, but ultimately his tenacity in the heat of battle gave him an edge over the experienced Johnson, who had been the Eagles’ punter for four seasons.

“I think it’s done me good that hit,” Rocca says.

“The fans really enjoyed it - the way I got up and laughed it off and I think it just showed them that I was fair dinkum about it. I wasn’t going to sit down and take it.”

It also showed coached Reid that Rocca was fair dinkum about playing for the Eagles.

Only on Sunday, though, against the Packers under real game-day pressure will Rocca truly learn if the Eagles are fair dinkum about sticking with him.

While he describes his career change as “stressful”, if also admittedly “physically a lot easier than what I’m used to back in Australia”, Rocca is quietly confident he has passed that many tests already in the US that this is just one more he’s ready to nail.

In any case, just playing one game in the NFL - even if it turns out to be his first and last - is an examination Saverio Rocca had to have.

“It’s been in the back of my mind for a long time and, once I retired from (AFL) football, I thought I better give it a shot,” he said.

“I didn’t want to end up down the track thinking could I have made it but didn’t try.”

By Darren Walton - © 2007 AAP

[LarryNJ]

Poor guy, I really feel bad for him! Most of us can lose our jobs at anytime, and other than TLH, most of us won't make $400,000 this year. Although it's true he could get cut at anytime, if he does good he'll make a lot more than 1.3 million.

We'll see how he does today at 1:00 in his first game that counts.

[frontrow]

Good luck sav....

[The InnFORCEr]

How did he go Larry??

His brother Anthony had a blinder on Saturday and will be a key to The Mighty Pies beating the budgies this Friday night!

[LarryNJ]

In a losing effort to the Packers Sav had 7 punts with an average of 40.4 yards, net of 35.7 and 2 inside the 20. An average to below average game for an NFL punter.

The good news yeasterday in the NFL the Steelers started the season with their new head coach with an impressive win over the hapless Cleveland Browns 34-7.

[JediKnight]

7 punts doesn't sound like his team were really pulling their weight!!!!