CSUN NOTEBOOK : Horned Frog Makes Jump to Northridge

When Tony Destafano left the Texas Christian University football team in 1982, his chances of playing again appeared remote.

But Destafano, a 6-4, 250-pound defensive end from Pasadena, is making a comeback attempt with Cal State Northridge after a four-year hiatus that began when his mother fell ill.

Despite the obstacles in his personal life--he dropped out of school to support his family--Destafano could never get the game out of his system.

While many athletes transfer to four-year schools as teen-agers, Destafano arrives in Northridge at the ripe old age of 23. He played two seasons at Pasadena City College before winning a scholarship to TCU in 1981.

NCAA Division I rules that permit a player five years to complete four are not applicable on the Division II level. Division II players can redshirt an indefinite amount of time and still retain eligibility.

“My mother got very sick that year (1982) and I had to come home and work,” said Destafano, who played at Blair High in Pasadena but never played a down for TCU. “I stayed in condition while I was out. I wanted to do it.”

As a sales manager in Pasadena for Allied Van Lines, a moving company, Destafano said he was making about $25,000 a year. When his mother’s health started to improve, his desire to play football resurfaced.

And after seeing all of his junior college buddies go on to play major college football, Destafano began to re-evaluate his situation.

“I wanted to play football,” said Destafano. “A lot of the guys I played with at PCC went to good schools. I’d see all my friends playing so I figured I missed out on something.”

Cracking the Matador lineup won’t be easy for Destafano. He’ll be up against All-Western Football Conference defensive end Darryl McIntyre, a junior, and sophomore Steve Dominic.

Destafano was also inspired by friends who had made it on the professional level, like his old TCU teammate, Greg Townsend, a defensive end with the Los Angeles Raiders and a fourth-round pick in 1983.

“I told my boss that I wanted to get my degree in business,” Destafano said. “If football doesn’t work out, I’d still have my business degree and go back to Allied.”

The only thing Matador Coach Tom Keele really knows about Destafano is what he has seen so far, and that’s a lot of hustle. Keele said Destafano was clocked at 4.85 in the 40-yard dash at PCC. And although Keele knows very little about Destafano’s performance at TCU, he figures that taking a chance on a player who was recruited to a program like the Horned Frogs can’t be much of a risk.

“You don’t get too many people who lay off from school like that and play with the kind of intensity he does,” said Keele. “He’s only been in our training camp six days. We don’t know him or anything so we’ve got to take a chance.”

Notes

The Matadors continued their two-a-day practice sessions on Wednesday at North Campus Stadium, ending the morning session with a 20-minute scrimmage between the first-team offense and defense. The offense got frisky when sophomore quarterback Chris Parker hit junior running back Richard Brown with a quick pass over the middle for a 20-yard score.

But it was the defense that prevailed Wednesday, as inside linebacker Todd Sideler, a sophomore from Burbank High, intercepted a pass from freshman quarterback Chris Folsom. Folsom was victimized again when he received a vicious head-on hit from freshman inside linebacker Ninos Sarorkhanioff of Monroe High.

“Offensively, we’re just an inch away,” said Coach Tom Keele. “We got some new people making mistakes. We scored a touchdown here and there, but I think the defense is better right now.”

Tony Destafano sat out Wednesday’s scrimmage with a sprained ankle.