Eventually, every college football player is struck—literally hit—with the realization that the speed and physicality of the game is exponentially greater than what they experienced in high school. For Georgetown’s sophomore wide-receiver Rick Cosgrove, that realization came after his second-ever catch.
In the fourth quarter of the 28-7 loss to Lafayette last Saturday, Cosgrove caught a Matt Bassuener spiral about seven yards downfield, turned and ran. Digging into his bag of video-game-inspired tricks, he tried a spin move to wiggle away from the defender in his path. What he didn’t account for was the Lafayette linebacker breathing down his neck. Mid-spin, Cosgrove caught a facemask full of the Lafayette “L,” jolting his helmet off his head and sending it hurtling through the air. Resembling a Gladiator-esque decapitation, the empty helmet landed five yards away as the Leopards celebrated.
“Welcome to college football,” said Cosgrove, laughing as he recalled his violent initiation. “I got up, though.”
After spending his freshman year away from football, Cosgrove joined the Hoyas this summer for the beginning of camp as a walk-on. He competed for playing time with athletes who were heavily recruited and had already forged relationships with coaches. But, three weeks later at the end of camp, he surprised his new teammates when he was given a starting spot.
“It was kind of a shock during camp, honestly,” senior captain, quarterback and fellow walk-on Matt Bassuener said. “No one knew anything about him, and in the first week he was surprising people.”
Standing six feet, four inches tall with good hands and mobility for his size, what’s surprising is that no college teams recruited the Chalfont, Pa. native. A hand injury in his senior year scared schools away from picking him up for football. But as the National Honor Society president at LaSalle College H.S., he chose Georgetown strictly for academic reasons.
With aspirations to try out for football upon his arrival to campus, he suffered an accident at home that would make it impossible for him to do much physical activity at all in his freshman year. A collision involving Cosgrove’s face and his bathroom’s tile floor broke and dislocated his jaw, with a few chipped teeth to boot.
It doesn’t happen often, but the resilient receiver could relate this particular chapter in his life to that of embattled rapper Kanye West.
“My mouth had to be wired shut and everything,” said Cosgrove. “Boost for breakfast and Ensure for dessert, that’s what it was. I ended up losing about 15 pounds.”
Nine months later, after meeting with coaches and hoping for an invitation to camp to try out, he received a call from the Hoya’s receiving coach KiJuan Ware.
“He called me while I was on the Jersey Shore and invited me to come to camp ten days later,” said Cosgrove. “I was like, ‘well I’m on vacation right now, but yeah of course.’”
Had Cosgrove been any other Joe Hoya, this season would have been a series of rude awakenings. But the sophomore has had no qualms about the 5:30 a.m. wake-up calls or the summer camp practices in 110-degree heat, even though he’s just now getting his first taste of a Division I varsity sport commitment.
“Last year I was going to bed whenever I wanted, two or three in the morning,” he said. “But now bedtime is ten o’clock sharp every night. It’s a lot more demanding, but I like playing football, so I guess it’s just one of those sacrifices you have to make.”
Brent Craft, a senior receiver who also came to the squad as a walk-on, has helped Cosgrove get to know the position and knows the kinds of sacrifices that need to be made to earn the right to have balls thrown your way. Sometimes those sacrifices include disregarding your own well-being.
“The thing with him is he’s so focused on the catch, he totally sells out for it,” Craft said. “He’s taken some kill shots right after, and he holds onto the ball every time. Whenever you get a player of his size, giving 110 percent all the time, it’s a great thing for the team.”
Last fall, Cosgrove would never have had a violent collision mid-game. That’s because he was playing flag football. But now he’s a starter on a Patriot League football team, taking all the hits in stride.
“I was hoping I would just see the field at some point this season,” he said. “To come from out of nowhere to starting was amazing.”
