Rob Ruggiero

Although Rob Ruggiero had the prototypical NFL frame and commitment to the game of football his road to Indianapolis was different the most of his teammates.  After playing three solid seasons at Springfield College Rob transferred to Bridgewater State University where he stood out as a senior and drew the attention of coach’s teammates and scouts.” His love for football and commitment to get better every day stood out from the moment he stepped on the field “coaches at Bridgewater said. People saw things in Rob on and off the field that was much different than other players and started to push him to peruse the opportunity to play at the next level. Following the season at Bridgewater Rob competed in both the American Bowl in Mexico City, and the All American Bowl in Minnesota. Going up against better competition Rob continued to shine earning himself the Jim Marshall award. This award is given to the best defensive lineman of the All American Bowl, and was also a recipient of The All American Award.

Robs accomplishments began to pay off and recieved calls from the AFL IFL and even the Miami Dolphins. This interest led Rob to the biggest test of his sports career, the NFL Pro day at Harvard University in Boston MA. Growing up a Boston sports fan playing high school football at Acton Boxborough High, Rob dreamed of playing in the NFL and now was his chance to showcase his skills with the best of the best locally at Harvard. Rob had a great day at Harvard and was invited to attend mini camp with the Indianapolis Colts. His hard work in the spring landed him a chance to be part of the 90 players coming into training camp in July of 2014. Rob made it to final roster cuts was let go at the end of August. Coming home and hoping to get a call back Rob continued to grind every day. His love for football and training continued as he reached out to Colleges and High Schools to help train players and look for opportunities to inspire other football players to go after their goals and dreams. His positive energy and led him to receive on more final opportunity with the Colts as they signed him to the practice squad at the beginning of season. Rob spent a little more time with the team learning as much as he could and when he was released, decided to continue his passion for football by giving others the inspiration, knowledge and lessons he learned along the way which ultimately was how he was able to #getthere.

Tune into our video of Rob and what he is doing today for the community young athletes and the game of football. His passion for coaching, love for the sport, and football intelligence is something that’s hard to duplicate. Watching what he does for our youth I know he will continue to inspire generations for years to come.