Another Sachem football alum is trying to achieve his goal of playing football on the professional level.
Craig Geoghan, the most prolific passing quarterback in Sachem history, will play in the National Bowl in Florida on Sunday.
Geoghan, who most recently played defensive back at Stony Brook University, will suit up in his old familiar position behind center in the all-star showcase with hopes that a representative from an arena, Canadian or NFL team likes what they see.
Geoghan said he had intentions of trying out for Arena Football League teams anyway, but a connection of his in the football world sent his highlight film to the game coordinators and he received an invitation.
It has been more than a year since Geoghan played college football, but don’t let that fool you. He said he’s game ready and has been throwing and working out for this opportunity since his Stony Brook career ended.
“I recently put the pads on to get the feel for them back and it feels as good as it always has,” he said.
This isn’t a case of unfinished business for Geoghan either, it’s simply his love for the game shining through.
“I’ve been playing since I was 7 and it’s taken me places all across the country,” he said. “I will play football until I can’t play anymore. It’s my favorite thing in the world and I know that I can play with anybody. I’ve excelled at every level so far and I plan to do the same at the FCS bowl.”
At Sachem North, Geoghan, who graduated in 2009, was a two-time All-Long Island selection. He still holds school records for career-passing yards (2,146), season-passing yards (1,105), career completions (264), touchdowns in a season (11) and career (18).
He played quarterback at Nassau and saw action in seven games. His best performance was against Dean College where he threw for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
At Stony Brook he had the opportunity to play at Montana in the NCAA Playoffs. It wasn’t a specific play from that game that fired him up; rather it was the 22,000-plus fans booing the Seawolves.
“The boos reflected off the mountains around the stadium,” he said. “It was ridiculously loud. I loved that we were the underdog that game.”
And now Geoghan again is the underdog because the odds of being a professional football player are not high. Just don’t tell him that.
“I have all the confidence in the world in myself, as I’ve worked hard and been coached well my entire life,” said Geoghan. “Maybe someone from either the NFL, CFL, or AFL will bite and give me an opportunity to attend a rookie mini camp or training camp. If not, I still got to play in an awesome game with tons of great players.”
The National Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game consisting of top seniors from all levels of college play. The game will take place at Florida International’s Ocean Bank Field. The game can be viewed online as a live stream at SFSN.TV at 2 p.m.
Sachem alums with gridiron dreams
The last Sachem alum to aim at playing pro football was Chris Manno (Class of 2003). He signed contracts with the Chiefs and Panthers of the NFL in recent years, but did not many it out of training camp.
Prior to Manno, Mike Miller had a brief stint in the AFL2, and Doug Shanahan was one cut away from making the New York Jets as a defensive back in 2001.
Brian Bravvy played on the practice squad of the Atlanta Falcons in the early 1990s, and Jumbo Elliott is still the only Sachem alum to playing in the NFL.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro