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To achieve a dream it takes sacrifices.
For one high school football player in Rogersville his dream took him 5,000 miles away from his home.
His name is Francesco Pellecchi and he is from Italy. One of the main reasons he decided to become a foreign exchange student in America was to play football.
“I have some American friends in Italy and they started introducing me to football,” Pellecchi said, “watching some NFL games.”
Francesco immediately fell in love with the game and knew he had to play it.
“The main sport in Italy is soccer. Everyone plays soccer. There is like one football team per city, or some not. We try to play with what we have.”
He was able to play one year of football in Italy but due to lack of interest and players the games are 7 on 7.
But Francesco wanted to play the REAL American football.
“Everyone said ‘come on, we are in Italy, it is impossible.”
He wanted to become a foreign exchange student and paired with a family in Rogersville.
“When he first walked in the door the first day you could tell he was extremely nervous,” Rogersville coach Mark Talbert said. “He stepped in and started to learn the game and you could see every week he got more and more confident and he started to have more success.”
“The biggest difference was the physical condition,” Francesco said. “Because I was the smallest one, everyone was bigger.”
Francesco found a role on the defense and special teams. He says his teammates took him in like an old friend.
“I consider them my second family,” Francesco said. “Everytime I fail or do something wrong, they don’t scream at me, they talk to me and tell me how to do it better.”
“You want to see a practice go crazy, when Francesco comes up with a big play on scout team, our kids go nuts for him,” Talbert said. “and I know a few of our kids have made a lifelong friend in him.”
Five-thousand miles later — a dream come true.
“Everybody says ‘he did it, he is there, he is playing, he went for his dream and he does it,” Francesco said. “I came here to play football and everybody is hyped for me because they see me happy.”
