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Athlete puts college injuries in past, wants to show he can compete
By Jonas Fortune
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Saturday, Jun 28, 2008
Before contestants step into the Gladiator Arena, they have to answer a question over and over again: ''What in your life have you experienced that enables you to perform and has prepared you for American Gladiators?''
The contestant on Monday's show, former Kent State University football player James Ruggiero, has quite the story to tell.
''Being an athlete at that level, at Kent, I really think is what set me apart from maybe the 20,000 other people who tried out for this show,'' Ruggiero said in a recent interview. ''I went through something that only a few thousand people get to do, and that's play college football at such a high level.''
The 6-foot-1, 235-pound fullback from Pittsburgh also suffered through what an even lesser number have had to endure.
He never carried the ball during his four years with the Golden Flashes. Not that he wasn't trying. His body wouldn't allow it.
After red-shirting in 2000 and missing the entire 2001 season with a broken bone in his foot, 2002 was supposed to be Ruggiero's year. He lost 40 pounds and impressed coaches all preseason.
But headaches — from previous concussions — would not stop. They became so severe that they eventually forced Ruggiero, who played on special teams at the time, to Robinson Memorial Hospital for a postgame examination.
He was bleeding on his brain.
Ruggiero immediately was taken to Akron City Hospital, where he had emergency surgery to repair the subdural hematoma, relieving the pressure on his brain.
''Your career as an athlete is over,'' doctors told him, some
thing that no competitor ever wants to hear. How does a lifelong athlete stop his life on a dime?
Ruggiero couldn't run for a year, he couldn't work out with vigor and he barely could exercise.
''I got out of the surgery, I was like 220-215 pounds. Within a couple of months I was already back up to 270-280,'' he said. ''All I did was eat like I normally eat, but I wasn't working out and doing football practice for three, four, five hours a day [for] five days, six days a week.''
With no control of his weight, Ruggiero continued to balloon. When he finally could exercise, Ruggiero was discouraged by more headaches from improper eating habits. He turned to the diet company NutriSystems.
''It took me a few years to realize I could be healthy again and start to exercise again, and NutriSystems helped,'' Ruggiero said. ''I didn't know how to eat, so I started NutriSystems and it taught me how to eat. . . . I can work out, lift, and exercise harder than I have ever had in my life. It's really about the quality of the food you put in your body.''
It has been nearly six years since Ruggiero laid in intensive care at City Hospital. He now weighs 215 pounds and teaches high school English classes at Yucca Valley (Calif.) High School.
And he finally is competing again, albeit in a different environment: the Gladiator Arena.
He will have to match wits with Titan, refuse to be intimidated by the strength of Toa and deal with being called ''Brother'' more times than he can count by Hulk Hogan.
It doesn't matter that he is supposed to be going against another competitor; he only looks to prove himself against those powerful Gladiators.
''I was aggressively anticipating this competition, and it's really what my desire and my passion was,'' Ruggiero said. ''I wanted to see if I could handle these world-class professional athletes.
''I've wanted to see if I could still be a part of that group ever since leaving Kent.''
American Gladiators airs at 8 p.m. Mondays on NBC.
Jonas Fortune can be reached at jfortune@thebeaconjournal.com.
Before contestants step into the Gladiator Arena, they have to answer a question over and over again: ''What in your life have you experienced that enables you to perform and has prepared you for American Gladiators?''
Get the full article here.
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