For the first time since college, a Massachusetts native is coming back home to play.
Cornerback Manny Asprilla, originally from Cambridge, Massachusetts, took to football after it was introduced to him by his older sibling.
“I was introduced through my brother, he used to play football,” Asprilla said. “After watching him I just felt like this was the game for me.”
Throughout his pop warner career, Asprilla slid around the gridiron, before moving to Everett in 2006, where he mainly played two positions.
“I played wide receiver, running back and quarterback,” Asprilla said. “I played quarterback as a kid and then wide receiver and a little bit of running back.”
Though he received offers in other parts of the country, Asprilla wanted to stay local and committed to Boston College, even if it meant throwing him a curveball rather late into his football career—changing his position to cornerback.
“For me, it was just that I wanted to stay home,” Asprilla said. “I had other schools looking at me even for the positions I wanted. But it was all about location for me.”
Asprilla started off showing raw cornerback ability at his new home on Chestnut Hill. But with his determination, he knew he would spend most of his time on the field as a starter.
“I always had plans of starting and it was always expected of me,” Asprilla said. “I didn’t really go in with the mindset of sitting on the bench and I always knew I was going to be in that role and have that responsibility so in my mind I knew what I was getting myself into.”
Asprilla didn’t take long to get comfortable. He played in eight games his freshman year and recorded his first sack against Florida State by taking down EJ Manuel. Asprilla proved to be reliable starting in all 13 regular season games in his junior and senior seasons and set his sights on a professional football career.
From there, the now former Eagle got a call from the then-San Diego Chargers. It was a dream come true for the New England native. He said playing professional football was different from the college game, and it relit his competitive flame.
“When I made it to the NFL and got the experience of what it was like to be there—experience the coaching, experience the lifestyle, just all around just football itself—where it was just football [and] no school,” Asprilla said. “There was nothing else I had to focus on just football, it really brought back the love and fire that used to burn in me as a child.”
The one player he looked up to the most during his time in San Diego was the returner of the infamous ‘Kick Six’ cornerback Chris Davis.
“There was a lot of great DB’s on that team but there’s one thing that stood out about Chris [Davis] that didn’t stand out with the other guys is the fact that he went undrafted,” Asprilla said. “[Chris] was hungry, he was underrated, I saw a lot of myself in him.”
Davis became Asprilla’s confidante who he could go to when he felt under appreciated. Davis’ advice? Ignore the noise and to let his play speak for itself.
“Chris had come up to me and said ‘I see what you’re doing, I see you’re grindin’, I see the hard work you’re putting in and I really see you growing as a player and you shouldn’t let anything frustrate you or cloud your mind cause it will affect your play on the field and that I could only control the things I can control,'” Asprilla said.
Asprilla, however, was released by the team and then found himself in Wisconsin playing arena football for the Green Bay Blizzard. Many still questioned why he was still doing it. The answer was simple—his love for the game.
“I started playing in Green Bay, not even because I wanted to make it back to the NFL,” Asprilla said. “But because I had just came off surgery and I wanted to play football, I was willing to give up everything just to play the game one more time.”
His play at the lower level of football for the Blizzard, which he says was “humbling,” led to another chance to not only to play at the professional level again but to also come home.
When Massachusetts Pirates President Jawad Yatim called, Asprilla said there wasn’t a cent to be discussed and that it was a done deal the minute he picked up the phone.
“When this year came around, the minute he called me, that same day, that same conversation, I already asked him ‘when do you want me to start?'” Asprilla said. “I’m ready to play, I’m ready to ball out, I saw how great they played last year and I was like, ‘I can help the team, I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team get over that hump.'”
Asprilla gave a glimpse to the Pirates faithful about what type of player he is.
“I play with a lot of passion,” Asprilla said. “When I step on the field, I play every play like it’s my last play and you feel it because I plan like every single one is my last because I know how it feels to have it taken away from you and I don’t want to have that feeling again. I want to feel like I left the game because I had no choice but to leave the game, so when I’m on the field I treat every play just like that.”
Asprilla also had a simple message for the fans.
“You gotta come show love,” Asprilla said. “If you love Boston sports, you gotta love our arena team as well.”
