Byline: MARK SINGELAIS Staff writer
Albany Conquest quarterback Ryan Vena spent a day at the Great Escape amusement park last week, hanging out with teammates who were enjoying themselves after an outstanding regular season.
Vena had every right to relax after setting an arenafootball2 record for passing yards in a season as he guided the Conquest to a 13-3 mark and the Northeast Division title.
He's a front-runner for af2 Offensive Player of the Year honors as he leads the Conquest into its quarterfinal playoff game against Macon (Ga.) at 7:30 tonight in Pepsi Arena.
Yet as Vena toured the Great Escape, the Queensbury attraction known for its thrill rides, he got a call on his cellphone that reminded him why his career has become a roller coaster.
His height. Or lack of it.
``My agent called me and was like, `Hey, you're doing a heck of a job,' '' Vena recalled. `` `You've got some teams looking at you, but it's the same old thing. Everybody's worried about your size.' ''
Vena said he's 6 feet tall, ``or darn near close,'' hardly the stature of an ideal quarterback when teams are seeking someone 6-5 who can easily look over opposing linemen and throw laser-beam passes.
The criticism has motivated Vena, who believes he'll be on someone's roster next year in the Arena Football League, the parent league of the 4-year-old af2.
And Vena, who is 25 and was out of football only two years ago, has one answer for those who belittle him for his size.
``Just read the numbers,'' said Vena, who's listed at 220 pounds. ``I've lost what, five or six games the past two years? Come on. I don't care about the size thing. That's definitely a motivation, when I hear people on other teams call me short and whatever they want to say. It just makes me want to play that much harder.''
It's difficult to argue with the results. Vena is 25-6 as Albany's starter the past two seasons after going 30-12 in four seasons at Colgate University, a Division I-AA non-scholarship program.
That's a 55-18 record as a starter -- a .753 winning percentage.
Vena also put up eye-popping individual statistics this season, throwing 85 touchdown passes and establishing an af2 record with 4,452 passing yards. Known for his mobility, Vena also rushed for 174 yards and 17 TDs.
``He's definitely proven one thing -- he can play,'' Albany coach Pete Costanza said. ``You look at Ryan and he doesn't have that prototypical quarterback look. If he shows up at a workout, you'd think, `Is this guy joking?' But you have to be able to look (past) that appearance. There are a lot of guys that look like Tarzan and play like Jane.''
Costanza said that despite Vena's size, the quarterback has had only one pass batted down at the line of scrimmage this season.
Conquest receiver Corey Hill, who played with Vena at Colgate for three years, said it would be a ``travesty'' if the quarterback isn't playing at a higher level next year.
``Are we having a height-measuring contest, or are we playing football?'' said Hill, who rooms with Vena in a Troy apartment during the season. ``That's what amazes me the most about the entire game of football. It's transformed from what you do on the field to numbers and sizes.''
Hill said Vena has a poise in the huddle that rubs off on teammates.
Four times this season Vena has directed the Conquest to a game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds or less remaining.
``You can tell he's confident,'' Hill said. ``He's not a rah-rah guy. He's got that look in his eyes. And that's why the team takes to him.''
Vena said he gained confidence growing up near Denver as a die-hard fan of the NFL's Broncos. There he idolized quarterback John Elway, the master of the fourth-quarter comeback.
``I studied him a lot,'' Vena said. ``I kind of model my game after him. I can throw on the run and across the field. I can scramble when I need to. I don't have his height (6-3) and his cannon arm, but I know I have his heart, his desire, and his will to win.''
Vena said he developed his passion for football early in life.
Born in New Jersey, Vena sat on the couch as a toddler and watched NFL games with his father, Charlie, a Giants and Jets fan.
``When he was barely big enough to walk, I used to watch `Monday Night Football' and I'd get him all pumped up for the game,'' Charlie said. ``I'd prop him up along side of me. He didn't have a chance (of not liking football) from that start.''
His parents were divorced when he was 5, and Vena moved to Colorado with his mother, Jeanne.
Moving was difficult on Ryan, who saw his father only every summer on trips to New Jersey. But he maintained his love for his sport, and Vena began playing flag football at age 7 and tackle a year later.
He starred at Chatfield High School in Littleton, Colo., although he missed several games because of a broken ankle as a senior.
Vena and his father mailed out highlight tapes to dozens of colleges. He eventually chose Colgate over Hofstra because he thought he could get a superior education at the school in Hamilton.
The Red Raiders had a 12-game losing streak when Vena arrived. When they started 0-4 his freshman year, Vena wondered if he had made a mistake.
In a desperation move, Colgate coach Dick Biddle inserted Vena into the starting lineup, and the team won six of its remaining seven games. Vena captured the Patriot League Player of the Year Award, joining Georgia's Herschel Walker and Furman's Stanford Jennings as the only freshmen in Division I-A or I-AA history to win conference player of the year honors.
``We had lost 16 games in a row,'' Biddle said. ``We felt we had to make a change. (Vena) just made plays. He was very confident, but not a cocky person. When you talked to him, it was like talking to somebody your age.''
When his college career ended, Vena had won three Patriot League MVP awards and had guided the Red Raiders to two league titles and three NCAA playoff appearances. Biddle calls Vena the best player in Colgate history.
That didn't help him after he graduated because Vena was passed over by the NFL and Arena Football.
He played the 2000 season for Peoria (Ill.) and Erie (Pa.) in the now-defunct Indoor Football League, a former rival of af2. A year later, he left training camp with the af2's Norfolk Nighthawks when it was apparent he'd be no more than the third-string quarterback.
``I'm not a great practice player,'' Vena said. ``I'm a gamer.''
He sat out the 2001 season. Having moved to Holmdel, N.J., where he still lives in the off-season, Vena worked a series of jobs -- as a bartender, an insurance claims adjuster and a pizza delivery man -- to keep himself afloat.
``I didn't want to get any of those corporate jobs,'' said Vena, who is single and earns $200 a game, with a $50 bonus for each win. ``It was always in the back of my mind that I was going to play again.''
He got his break last year when Albany joined af2 as an expansion team. When former head coach Ron Selesky signed Hill to be his offensive specialist, Hill recommended Vena as a possibility at quarterback.
Vena started as the backup, but replaced a struggling John Krueger for good by the fifth game. Vena threw for 56 touchdowns and 3,041 yards in helping the Conquest to a 13-3 record in the regular season and the Northeast Division title. The Conquest lost to Cape Fear in the af2 playoff quarterfinals.
Still, Vena fielded only one offer from an AFL team -- to become Buffalo's third-string quarterback when Selesky was named coach there.
Instead, Vena returned to Albany to work on his game under Costanza, the new head coach. The move paid off.
Vena credits a better cast of receivers and an improved offensive line for his success. He also said he's making quicker decisions than a year ago.
``That's the key to this game,'' Vena said. ``You don't have a lot of time to throw and there's so little space in here that you have to get it there at the right time. My arm's gotten better and I'm making better decisions this year.''
It's hard to tell if that will lead to an opportunity in a better league.
Mike Dailey, head coach of the AFL's Colorado Crush, saw Vena play this season and said he was impressed. But like other coaches, Dailey isn't sure if Vena is big enough to play in the AFL.
``It's a concern,'' Dailey said. ``Does that shut the door on him completely? Probably not.''
Dailey said he's far from deciding whether to give Vena a shot in training camp. It would seem a natural fit, since Vena grew up in Colorado and the Crush is co-owned by Elway, his idol.
Vena insists, however, that thoughts of next season are only in the back of his mind. He is focusing on winning an af2 title.
``I wish God would have blessed me with a couple more inches, and that would have been great,'' he said. ``But I could be in a lot worse places and a lot worse position.''
CAPTION(S):
JAMES GOOLSBY/TIMES UNION RYAN VENA has battled through his playing career against the stereotype that he is too small to be a successful quarterback. LUANNE M. FERRIS/TIMES UNION THE ONLY NUMBERS that Ryan Vena is concerned with are the amount of wins and losses his team posts.
