I’ve been watching Joey Sorrentino play football now for about seven years and have always marveled at the effort he expends to perform at such a high level.
Little Joey plays big.
Yet Sorrentino will finish up his college career this season relatively unknown, despite having made significant contributions to Urban Meyer’s championship teams, as the bling on his fingers could easily attest if he chose to wear the championship rings all at once.
That’s just not the Joey way. He’s more about dash than flash.
In the land of megastars like Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes, Joey Sorrentino is but a mere twinkle to the general public.
Maybe you don’t know him, but his teammates and his coaches certainly do. Meyer once confided to me that Sorrentino was “my favorite football player.” Even allowing for a little embellishment by the Florida coach, the meaning was clear.
If they didn’t put numbers on jerseys to identify the players, No. 39 could just wear a heart on his and we’d know him.
If he were a children’s book, Joey would be The Little Engine That Could.
The quickest way to Urban’s heart is the special teams and that’s where the former all-state running back from Ocala’s Trinity Catholic found his way. It didn’t take Joey long to realize how important a role he could play.
It appears that his intersection with the arrival of Meyer at Florida was timed perfectly. Meyer’s emphasis on special teams fit superbly with Sorrentino’s work ethic. Urban’s values were right in line with his.
Meyer, a coach who loves to award battlefield promotions and champions outstanding effort, found in this 5-foot-7 package of football-want-to the ideal symbol for his special teams: A weight-room warrior with an Indianapolis 500 motor on the field.
And, by the way, Joey played the game for the love of it as a walk-on. It was only recently that Sorrentino was awarded a scholarship. That was the good news. The bad news was that he suffered a torn ACL and had to undergo surgery last spring. He expects to be ready for the Charleston Southern game, but has been relegated to watching during two-a-days.
“It’s killing me being on the sideline,” said Sorrentino. “They have to pull me out of there sometimes because I want to get in so bad. But I guess you have to listen to doc.”
The Joey Sorrentino Story is one of inspiration.
Starting as a superstar youth league player in Marion County, Sorrentino was an undersized running back who found a home as a receiver in Kerwin Bell’s offense. He not only enjoyed success as a player, but impacted the Celtic program so profoundly that they named a hustle award after him.
He’s never stopped hustling, which is why he graduated from Scout Team oblivion and finally got on the field in 2006. In his first Gator experience, running out of the tunnel, he worried that he might trip and fall in front of everyone – or maybe get trampled. He looked around “The Swamp” at the people and began to feel like a Roman Gladiator. He was awed “just knowing that you would be able to play on that field in front of all those people.”
He remembers when Meyer asked him if he was ready to play on the kickoff team against Western Carolina. He stuttered an affirmative, nodded his head and was shaking all over as he ran on the field. Since then Joey has become a valuable member of the kickoff and punt coverage teams. He played in 13 games in 2007, blocked a punt that Markus Manson returned for a touchdown, made five tackles and has since been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll twice.
On a football team with national championship potential that has been spurred on by its coach to adopt an even stronger work ethic, Sorrentino is already a lap leader. He sees intense effort around him and likes the flavor of his team. He is a special player on special teams.
It is downright staggering how big a role special teams has played in this championship run.
For example, a recent stat came to light about the success of special teams play that is mind-boggling. Half the time when the Gators return a kickoff or punt to their own 30-yard line, they score a touchdown.
Blocking a punt or a kick tends to demoralize the opponent. An old football coach once told me that getting a punt blocked was the most embarrassing and debilitating thing that could happen to a team. Look for Sorrentino to have his crack at another blocked punt in 2009. Every year the Gators get better at it, having blocked a school record nine kicks last season. Joey thinks this team could even top that number this year.
All of which means the role of the Joey Sorrentinos of the world was never more important.
If it all comes together, Joey will be one of the few college players in history to be a member of three national championship teams – the rest being his teammates with four years at Florida.
“The first two haven’t even sunk in yet,” Sorrentino said of his championship experiences. “As you’re walking on, your first goal is to make the team. After that, when you see the field for the first time, you always want more – you get greedy.
“I’m living a dream.”
The scholarship that he was awarded meant everything to Joey, even though his parents could well afford to pay his way. It was validation of his effort.
“I’m a guy who likes to earn things,” he said.
Indeed, Joey Sorrentino earned it. And he has two SEC rings and two national championship rings to go along with it, with spaces for two more.