He played as the marked man, the one whom thousands of fans attended games and drank and sang and carried on about. Rocca was a star in Aussie football, one of the top dozen goal scorers in history, one of, as research suggests, "the most-scrutinised (sic) players" ever over there.
Rocca is one of those men, though, who dreams bigger things. His is a foot of prodigious power, so strong that his dream is to play in the NFL and to play with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Meet Saverio Rocca, Eagles fans. He will join the team in the off-season conditioning program in late March and will try to beat out Dirk Johnson for the punting job. He brings along a fascinating story.
How the Eagles and Rocca ended up on the same tryout field is pretty standard by today's standards. The Australian punting pipeline is well established. Darren Bennett and Ben Graham and Mat McBriar have paved the way for hopefuls like Rocca.
The Eagles keep their eyes open, and they knew about Rocca. An intermediary who acts as an agent for Australian players sent the Eagles a DVD of Rocca. They liked what they saw. In November, Rocca visited the NovaCare Complex for a tryout. His second punt traveled 75 yards, and the Eagles' eyes opened wide.
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| Saverio Rocca had a stellar career in Australia |
With an NFL football in his hands, Rocca had to adhere to the footwork and the different ball. He had tried out seven years ago in Green Bay, and then worked out in Buffalo in September.
In November, he was good enough to earn a contract.
"You wonder about those DVDs, because you don't know if they are doctoring them," said Eagles General Manager Tom Heckert, laughing. "He was in New York City and we decided to bring him down for a workout. And I'll tell you what, for a kid who had only been punting the football for about a month at that time, he was really impressive. He's a got a cannon for a leg. Now he has to learn the techniques and everything that go along with punting.
"The ball in Australia is totally different -- it's bigger, fatter, maybe a little shorter -- so he had to make that adjustment, but I'm telling you, when he was out here, he hit some bombs. I'm not kidding. He's definitely got the tools to do it.
"Now it's a matter of him learning how to punt."
Rocca is talking from Australia. He is a modest man, a husband and a father with two young children. This is a thrilling time for him, in his mid-30's with a new challenge awaiting. Aussie football has provided a good lifestyle for his family.
American football and the American lifestyle presents a completely unique moment.
"I'm extremely excited. At the moment, I'm just coming out of football and getting back into the competitive mode. My mind, for the last 15 years, has been regimented into doing something with the body every day, so I'm really excited about getting over there," said Rocca in a telephone interview. "A lot of footballers have difficulties once they retired; I think having this new challenge that may extend my life playing a new sport has made it easier for me.
"I am looking forward to learning and being part of a competitive team environment again."
When the news broke in Australia, there was a predictable amount of attention. Rocca is a national star there, and he is the latest to make the trip to America to try to break into the NFL. Bennett was the first. He played in 159 game in the league and had a brilliant career, named to the All-Decade Team in the 1990s. Graham is in New York with the Jets and has been outstanding for two seasons. McBriar -- who actually broke the mold and kicked at the University of Hawaii after a childhood in Australia -- is a Pro Bowl punter in Dallas. Rocca knows, though, that he can't take any liberties. While Australia has heralded him as "the next one," Rocca knows there are no guarantees.
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| Rocca comes to the Eagles with great physical skills |
"The NFL does not get much coverage in Australia so I did not grow up understanding much about the game. My interest in the NFL came more from people encouraging me and telling me I could be good at it.
"My plan was always to get the most out of my AFL career because I was never sure that the NFL would work out for me. Seven years ago, I had a tryout with the Packers which made me realize that I wasn't ready or capable at that point in time.
"Since then, I have learned more about the game and the punter's role through watching it on TV and practicing with people who have a lot of knowledge about the NFL. As I have understood more about the game and improved in my kicking ability, my passion to play and succeed at it has increased. I can see myself doing well at it because it involves a lot of technique which I have always been good at.
"I like being able to specialize in one area and focus all my attention on that.
Eagles fans are everywhere, including Australia. Steve Scahill, from Sydney, had this to say about the signing of Rocca and the general impression of Rocca during his AFL days:
"It's tremendously exciting to see an Aussie with the opportunity to become part of the Eagles, the team I avidly support from Down Under.
"Rocca spent the majority of his Australian Football League (AFL) career playing for a different flock of birds, the Magpies. He was a fan favorite, owing to his size, physical play and the remarkable distance he was able to obtain on punts. The Magpies are recognized as having the competition's most fervent supporters, so Rocca may well feel at home with the Eagles.
"Based on the success of former Chargers Pro Bowler Darren Bennett and the Jets Ben Graham, who were established AFL stars before making the jump to the NFL, I have to believe Rocca has a shot of refining his obvious punting skills and making an impact with the Eagles."
If you aren't familiar with Australian Rules Football, you need to watch ESPN on a late night. The game is fast and furious and the play is physical and back and forth.
Here is how Rocca describes the game: "It's a fast game where you have 18 players on the field for each team. It's one on one all over the field and you've got to get the ball through your goals (posts) to score six points. Players can kick, handball or run and bounce the ball in order to get it to their scoring end. In some games each team can score 10 to 18 goals for the game."
Rocca scored many of those goals for Collingwood and then the Kangaroos. He has said goodbye to a game that has been good to him, and now the NFL is here, in living color, waiting.
The paperwork still needs to be finalized, and Rocca needs to tidy up his living arrangements for when he arrives, but mentally he is in the game. Rocca works out three times a week on his technique. The Eagles sent six official NFL footballs to him and Bennett has helped, too.
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| Family life will be a transition for Rocca |
Everything changes now.
"It ended well for me. My last game was against the team I played for, for nine years and although we didn't win in the last game, I was pretty happy with the send off I got from both teams," said Rocca. "My only regret is that I didn't get to play in a grand final but now I have the dream of playing in the NFL and potentially playing in a Super Bowl which would be awesome. I know I got everything I could from AFL so it makes it easier to move forward and get on with the next phase of my life. "The last 15 years, the basis of my training has been building my aerobic output, which consisted of a lot of running and minimal weight training. I think now I will focus solely on increasing my leg power and kicking technique.
"This will suit my body type a lot more, I was always better at strength work than endurance. In some ways it will bring me back to the type of training I did before football. I competed in shot put and discus as a junior which was also a sport involving strength and technique."
Will Rocca make the team, or is this just an interesting off-season story? He has a legitimate chance to impress. Johnson had a largely-solid season in 2006 and is someone in whom the Eagles have great confidence.
But Rocca is intriguing for a lot of reasons. He credits a week spent with Bennett years ago as "the turning point" in his career. The leg strength is obviously there. It is simply a matter of technique at this point.
Maybe the Eagles have found something special to add to their special teams. Maybe they have just made for a lively Discussion Board debate.
Certainly, this is much more than a novelty. Rocca is taking his preparations very seriously. He is trying to make the biggest move in his life.
"I'm seeming to grasp the technique at the moment," said Rocca. "The reason it is different is because in Australian Rules Football you take so many steps to go through the ball. I'm getting used to it now. I just find that the more kicks I do the better I'm getting.
"The main adjustment for me is getting over there, getting assimilated into the way of life and making sure my family can adjust. I think I'll fit in pretty well."
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