Angelo Babbaro stood in front of a group of children at Tuesday's Ursuline Football Camp, telling them there is more to life than football.
Shocking coming from the former Canfield High School and Villanova University standout.
Today, he is the Chief Performance Officer at The Muransky Companies.
"Football used to be the most important thing to me, but now that it's over I've grown up a little bit," Babbaro said. "Everything I've put into football equates to my real life now. I like to share that light with them. It's great to get on the football field. It's great to work hard and get out there. When it's all said and done, what did you put into football that you can carry over into everyday life?"
He was the feature back at Canfield and eventually led the Cardinals to the 2005 Division II state title game where they lost to Toledo Central Catholic by two points, 31-29.
"I talk about it everyday," Babbaro said. "Would've like it to end a little differently. Now that I'm home for good, it still comes up. People talk about it. When I walk into local restaurants people are asking me about it. It was a bittersweet memory because it didn't end the way we wanted it to, but it was one heckuva ride. We enjoyed it. Everyone deserved it, not only the coaches, but the players and the whole Canfield community that was behind us in the '05 season.
"At Canfield, that was a magical season for us. For us, you're not used to seeing that at Canfield and Ursuline is used to that with its rich tradition. I was lucky to have great teammates around me and put a lot of hard work in Division I scholarships."
He went to Villanova University in the fall of '06 and eventually got a degree in Human Resource Management.
"Villanova turned out to be a great decision for me," Babbaro said. "When I first got there, I wasn't quite sure. I've never been away from home or anything like that. Cards seemed to fall in place for me, I stayed the course, worked really hard, got on the field and started as a sophomore."
The Wildcats won the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS National Championship.
"Two playoff appearances and won the national championship, I couldn't ask for much more out of that experience," Babbaro said.
After he graduated from Villanova in 2010 and got a fifth-year redshirt and attended graduate school in 2011, Babbaro worked out for the Chiefs and Raiders.
Ursuline coach Larry Kempe said Babbaro was a standout in his mind.
"I remember him when I was at Niles (as an assistant coach) and he was at Canfield," Kempe said. "He's a tough kid. You look at his size, there's not a lot of size there. He had great mental toughness for him to go play at Villanova University."
And, Babbaro wants to share some of his knowledge with the Irish football team. Babbaro's uncle, Dom Prologo, is Ursuline's secondary coach.
"If he has some time, he's going to give some helping hands to some of the guys as we're trying to teach them," Kempe said.
Meanwhile, Babbaro was happy to share his experience with the Ursuline campers.
"Everyone is going through adversity at this age," Babbaro said. "I went through it. It might be a little different adversity than these kids are going through, being an underdog and proving yourself to everybody. I like to come out and mentor the kids and shed some of the football light on them, but tell them my story and what I've overcome and what I've accomplished."
