Former Exeter offensive lineman draws interest from NFL
EXETER, N.H. (BVM) — Four years ago Sal Spinosa thought he was going to be in a much different place. Having played his final high school game at Exeter High School, Spinosa didn’t know where his football career would take him.
After a 9-3 season with the Blue Hawks in Spinosa’s senior year, the future college offensive lineman was unsure of his road moving forward. With the hope of continuing his playing career, Spinosa jumped at the opportunity to play at Division III Grove City College (GCC) in Pennsylvania.
“At that time coming out of New Hampshire, not too many people are looking into New Hampshire to find athletes,” Spinosa said. “I played that last game thinking that that was going to be my last game ever.
I did not look into Grove City College for the football, I actually came here for the mechanical engineering program and it was just a bonus that I could play football here. It just backed up why I wanted to be here. I didn’t have to say goodbye to the game yet, I still had another chance.”
When it came down to the final decision for Spinosa he knew he wanted to continue to play football when he was picking colleges.
“I knew I was going to play football, I knew if I went to Grove City, I would play football,” Spinosa said. “I got in contact with the head coach, talked to him and he said I would have a spot here if I got accepted.”
Grove City College head coach Andrew DiDonato and offensive line coach Derrick Baney, who helped recruit Sal, were able to recall what they saw in Spinosa at the time.
“We knew he was a smart player, we knew he physically had the frame and we thought that he would be pretty versatile, being a diver (in high school),” DiDonato said.
At Grove City, Spinosa started all four years after switching from right guard to left tackle early on. The team saw an increase in their record each season of Spinosa’s college career. The growth that Spinosa has shown from his first rep to his last at GCC has helped spotlight him on a much bigger stage.
“I definitely grew a lot,” Spinosa said. “I was undersized in high school until late in my senior year. Coming here, the biggest thing that I had going for me was I said that I was going to be teachable. I was going to be an openbook, I was going to learn from every situation that I can. Coming in freshman year, we had a couple of injuries, I actually started and I played all freshman year. I just learned from all the upperclassmen, I learned from the coaches, I learned how to play the game better.”
“He’s been the best lineman in our conference really the last couple years,” DiDonato said. “He was voted first team all-conference two years in a row. It’s amazing this year, our running back led the conference in rushing, we had the number one total offense, we gave up the fewest sacks in the league in the pass game and it was definitely Sal anchoring everything at left tackle.
For us to run and be in the top of the country in some statistics, it was running behind him as much as we could. Obviously a captain, a vocal leader, but us having the top offense was because we could run the ball and we could protect and Sal has been our best lineman really since his freshman year.”
Coach DiDonato points to Sal’s intangibles as the reasons they were successful as a group.
“The biggest thing I saw from our team was just the example he set,” DiDonato said. “In four years, I mean he was a technician. He was just an example to do it right every single time and I think he really, really, really – from my perspective – gave us such amazing teaching points to the other guys because he truly led by example.”
Spinosa’s high school coach at Exeter, Bill Ball, hasn’t been surprised by the success that he’s had at the college level.
“He had a terrific four years at Grove City,” Ball said. “He’s just taken to the next level, he’s rolling. Nothing that young man achieves would surprise me and he’s as nice a young man as you’re ever going to meet.”
Playing in the NFL wasn’t the first thing that was on Spinosa’s mind when he made the 600-mile move to Pennsylvania. After he capped off his college career with two First Team All-PAC honors, Spinosa was able to impress scouts when he played in the HBCU Spirit of America game, which features players from small schools. With the help of the HBCU game and an opportunity at a Pittsburgh-area Pro Day, Spinosa hopes that the opportunity will let scouts see his game. So far, he says he’s been contacted by the Colts, while the Eagles and Cardinals have also reached out to coach DiDonato about him.
With the hope of playing at the professional level, Spinosa knows he can always fall back on his recently obtained bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
