3’s a charm for Fusco
This is the second in a series of articles profiling members of the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024
FREEDOM — An unexpected window of opportunity opened twice for Brandon Fusco as a young football player.
A junior guard on the Seneca Valley High School football team, he didn’t figure on starting for the Raiders that season. An injury to the player in front of him on the depth chart changed all of that.
“I wound up being a team captain at Seneca,” Fusco recalled. “Then I go to Slippery Rock, redshirted my first year and was supposed to sit the following season as well. Our center got a staph infection and I found myself starting at center — a position I’d never played before — as a freshman.”
Fusco wound up being an All-American at SRU, won the Gene Upshaw Award as the best lineman in Division II football, and spent eight years as a starting guard in the NFL. Now he’s being inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame.
Fusco will join Josh Barthlow, Kevin Doyle, Tammie Kelley, Dana Petruska, Lily Grenci, John Papa and John Enrietto in being inducted at the BCSHOF banquet at 6:30 p.m. April 27 at Founders Hall on the campus of Butler County Community College.
He is already a member of athletic Halls of Fame at Seneca Valley and SRU.
“This one is truly special,” Fusco said of the county Hall. “There’s been so many great athletes, coaches, so many icons come through this area over a lot of years. I’m so grateful and honored to be thought of as one of them.”
Fusco described himself as “tall and skinny” during his high school football years.
“I didn’t take the weight room very seriously back then,” he admitted. “When I was a junior at SRU, I remember (head coach) George Mihalik telling me some scouting service was interested in me, that the Eagles wanted me to come test my time in the 40 ... It was then I realized I had a shot.
“I wasn’t about to live the rest of my life regretting not giving my full effort to an opportunity like that. I studied film longer and harder. I was the last guy to leave the weight room every day. I wanted to be ready.”
A three-time All-PSAC honoree in college, Fusco became the first Rock football player to ever compete in the Senior Bowl. He won the Upsaw Award in 2010 and was drafted in the sixth round by the Minnesota Viklngs the following spring.
“Sometimes they say it’s better to not get drafted at all — so you can choose your best opportunity to make a roster — rather than get picked in a late round,” Fusco said. “But Minnesota proved to be perfect for me. They gave me a chance and I took advantage of it.
“I wound up playing guard for eight years in the NFL after not playing that position since high school. I played center in college after never playing that position before. It’s strange the way that all worked out.“
Fusco started every game for the Vikings in 2012, the year Adrian Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards.
“Definitely the highlight of my career,” he said. “I played six years with Adran. He missed breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season record by nine yards. That year was unbelievable.”
After six years with the Vikings, Fusco played a year with the San Francisco 49ers, then signed a multiyear deal with Atlanta. Seven games into the 20-18 season with the Falcons, he suffered a season-ending leg injury.
The injury proved to be career-ending.
“It was a pretty gruesome leg injury,” Fusco recalled. “I tried comig back from it — got a tryout with the Jets after a year — but I was 31 at the time. They took a 22-year-old over me. That’s the way it works.
“I really wanted to get in there for more snap. I really miss football. But I’m so grateful and proud of the career I had.”
Tickets to the BCSHOF banquet are available at www.butlersportshall.com or at the Butler Radio Network on Pillow Street in Butler, Parker Appliance in Chicora, Saxonburg Drug or Maddalon Jewelers in Zelienople.
