Hall of Fame
“Believe it or not, it had nothing to do with the football field,” said Vinny Testaverde when asked recently on our radio show Shuman Says to relate his favorite FUMA memory. “They asked me to come be part of the track team and throw the javelin. They didn’t have a javelin thrower. I had never thrown it before. We went out there and I think I set the school record in throwing the javelin. That was one of my favorite memories.”
Vinny Testaverde attended FUMA as a postgraduate in 1981-82 and played quarterback on the PG football team under Coach Pulliam. His arm strength was incredible and Vinny’s javelin throw of 212’ 1” in competition still stands as the FUMA record.
Testaverde was born to be a football player, with his father Al Testaverde his biggest fan. As starting quarterback of Sewanhaka High in Elmont, New York during his senior season, Testaverde racked up almost 700 yards in passing, despite playing in an offensive scheme built around running the veer play.
Having a rocket arm wasn’t enough for the young athlete to gain a scholarship, however. He also needed to demonstrate the kind of academic achievement that would attract the recruiters from the top Division I programs.
So Testaverde left behind the comfort of his loving family and his status as high school star in order to meet the challenges of Fork Union Military Academy. That choice not only led to a scholarship to the University of Miami, it helped reinforce and develop the qualities of determination, patience, leadership, responsibility, and dedication to hard work that would characterize Testaverde’s long football career.
It was, truly, a choice that would prove life-changing for Testaverde.
“It saved my football dreams,” Testaverde told New York Times writer Bill Pennington in an interview for Pennington’s book The Heisman.
“I remember that from 7:30 to 9:45 every night, the entire school was studying,” Testaverde told Pennington. “And it made a difference. I learned what you can accomplish when you focus.”
During his two years as starting quarterback for the University of Miami, he led the team to a 21-1 record and set a number of passing records, many of which still stand today, more than two decades later.
Testaverde was awarded the Heisman Trophy honoring him as the best college football player in 1986. It was a dream come true for his father. Al Testaverde, a construction worker, used to eat his lunches on the street outside the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City and imagine the day he would enter as a guest of honor to see his son, then just a young boy, win the prestigious award.
Picked first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft by Tampa Bay, Testaverde went on to play for 21 years in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (’87-92), Cleveland Browns (’93-’95), Baltimore Ravens (’96-’97), New York Jets (’98-’03, ‘05), Dallas Cowboys (’04), New England Patriots (’06), and Carolina Panthers (’07).
He ranks among the top ten quarterbacks in history in career statistics for passing yards, passes attempted, passes completed, touchdown passes, and he holds a number of NFL passing records outright. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1996 and 1998.
In one of his most memorable games, Testaverde led the Jets to their greatest comeback win ever, 40-37 over the Dolphins in October 2000. Entering the fourth quarter down 30-7, Testaverde connected on four touchdown passes to win the game that became known as the “Monday Night Miracle.” This game was voted by fans in 2000 as the “greatest game televised on ABC’s Monday Night Football.”
