(Photo by Steve Sanders)
Mike Catapano has only wanted to do one thing in his life—play football. He started playing in Bayville when he was just eight years old and he hasn’t stopped since.
With the 207th pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs selected the Princeton graduate. However, the NFL dream Catapano, a Chaminade High School graduate, was living, hit a bump in the road in 2014.
After a successful rookie season at defensive end, concussions kept Catapano off the field for the entire season last year.
Now, Catapano, 24, says he is stronger than ever and can’t wait for his opportunity to get back on the field.
“Right now, I’m poised for what I really believe will be the biggest season in my career,” he said. “I want the other team to know that when they throw on the tape, they have to account for Mike Catapano.”
Starting at defensive end in the NFL is a long way from his roots as a running back in Bayville.
“That’s what I did when I was eight years old and I was really good at it,” Catapano said of being a running back. “Scoring touchdowns was my thing. I was naturally fast.”
Throughout a successful career at Chaminade, Catapano continued to be the player carrying the ball, not the one going after the ball carrier.
When it came time for Catapano to continue his career into college, he had a difficult choice ahead of him. Shoulder surgeries in high school limited his options to mostly Ivy League schools.
“If schools like Princeton and Harvard are interested in me right now, I’d be an idiot to not at least look at it and give this a serious thought,” he said. “It came down to Princeton and Harvard for me.”
The offer from Princeton stood out, as he was recruited there as a defensive end, a position he never played before.
After struggling to adjust his freshman year, Catapano relished his new position. Catapano gained the weight necessary to fill in his frame, and his performance only got better. In his senior year in 2012, Catapano led the Ivy League with 12 sacks and helped Princeton turn the program into a winner.
Finally, the NFL came calling. After some teams showed interest in him before the draft, the Chiefs came out of nowhere to take him in the seventh round.
“There were a bunch of teams in the mix,” Catapano said. “Going into it, I didn’t know that Kansas City was one of them.”
In his first preseason game with the Chiefs, Catapano had his welcome to the NFL moment. It took place in Pittsburgh against the Steelers.
“I ran in there, and I remember looking and taking everything in. Ben Roethlisberger is under center at quarterback. I’ve been watching him forever. I’m taking in all this then I have to shake my head and flush out the noise and get lined up,” Catapano recalled. “I remember I was in the wrong spot on the line and Eric Berry was slapping me trying to move me over. The first play was a little rough. I was a little star struck at that point.”
From then on, Catapano found his game. During his rookie season, Catapano appeared in 15 games for the Chiefs, making four tackles and recording his first NFL sack against the Raiders.
That season, the Chiefs made the playoffs but were stunned by the Indianapolis Colts, who were down 28 points in the third quarter but came back to win. The experience was a humbling one for Catapano. During the game, he recalled being called for an offsides penalty that helped the Colts score.
“I just really savored the opportunity but it sucks the way it turned out. I hope to be back soon,” Catapano said.
Concussions left Catapano injured for all of last season, and the time off gave him time to focus and prepare for this upcoming year. Even a year without football didn’t give him time to relax.
“Relaxing is for the offseason when you’re done and you have a ring on your finger,” Catapano said. “My body feels better now because I haven’t had a year off from football since I was eight.”
Catapano believes that this year’s Chiefs have the potential to make a deep playoff run, and he hopes to be an integral part of that.
Catapano and the Chiefs begin the preseason on Saturday, Aug. 15 against the Arizona Cardinals. The regular season opener is on Sunday, Sept. 13 against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium.
