Sachem Provided Motivation for Manno

It’s been eight years since Chris Manno went to Sachem High School, but one of his greatest points of motivation came when he was a Flaming Arrow and it still burns inside him today.

It happened when he announced he would be walking on the football team at Hofstra University.

“I remember every word he said to me and where he said it,” said Manno, referring to a key conversation he had with then Sachem offensive coordinator Dave Falco.

Falco, who is the head coach at Sachem now, admits he told Manno Hofstra would be, “a little over his head at the time he graduated."

Compared to his Adonis looks now as he attempts to make the Kansas City Chiefs out of training camp, Manno was a smaller receiver with only two years of football under his belt at the time.

Manno said Joe Zarzycki, an assistant at North then who is now coaching at East, had a similar reaction.

"I couldn't be happier for Chris," said Falco. "No one works as hard as he does. He deserves all the success in the world."

Former Sachem coach Fred Fusaro made the call to Hofstra to get him in and the rest is history. Fusaro, who coached at Hofstra under Howdy Meyers prior to taking the Sachem coaching job in 1971, never doubted him.

“Chris Manno is one of the hardest workers I ever coached,” said Fusaro. “He was a late bloomer who had a goal and then worked his tail off to achieve that goal."

“At the time he was better suited for a Division III or Division II program," Falco said. "He has proved me wrong. I think he uses it as motivation proving me and everyone else wrong. I am very proud of him. If I know Chris, he will continue to prove the doubters wrong again as he makes the team coming out of camp."

Manno said he often thinks about that conversation with Falco. He used it to become a scholarship player at Hofstra after his sophomore season. He used it on his lengthy commutes to play for the New Jersey Revolution in the less than desirable AFL2 and he’s using it now in his biggest challenge yet.