Men's Soccer | 7/13/2016 12:11:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – In 20 years as the men's soccer coach at
Robert Morris University,
Bill Denniston says one player stands above the rest.
"Jason DeFranco," Denniston said, without hesitation. "I'm not afraid to tell the other guys I've coached that Jason was my favorite. He did it all for us."
DeFranco was equal parts fearless and ferocious from 1998-2001, a tough-guy personified.
"He could take over a game with his power," Denniston said. "He might not have been the most skilled player, but he just had this brute force that allowed him to impose his will on the opposition."
Whether it was playing with a torn quadriceps muscle for much of his senior season or returning to a game after being knocked out cold, DeFranco always displayed his inimitable leadership skills as a three-year captain, an honor bestowed on him by his teammates.
"I think the toughness came partially from my upbringing and partially from my competitiveness," said DeFranco, a native of Shaler, Pa. "It's an attitude and a mindset that losing is the worst thing in the world. So, you do what it takes not to lose."
It's been 15 years since DeFranco played for the Colonials, yet little has changed in his professional life as a medical sales representative for Exact Sciences. He regularly taps into his unrelenting inner drive as he attempts to close deals with different medical groups.
"In sales, you have to have the right attitude about yourself, and I don't mean that you have to be arrogant," said DeFranco, who earned a degree in business management. "But you have to have the mentality that you don't want to lose. There are definitely similarities between my job and how I approached soccer nearly 20 years ago."
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After a stellar career at Robert Morris, in which he helped the program go from worst to first in the Northeast Conference, DeFranco eschewed the temptation of a professional soccer career and entered the corporate world. He also married former RMU women's soccer player Allison Truax. The two became parents to twin girls, Alessandra and Milena, a year ago and reside in Pittsburgh's Observatory Hill.
One day, DeFranco's children will learn that daddy was a hard-charging collegiate soccer player who maximized every ounce of his talents. He still ranks fifth all-time at Robert Morris in games played (69), sixth in goals (29) and eighth in points (69) and points per game (0.97).
DeFranco was a member of the All-Mideast Region three times, a feat matched by one other Colonials player,
Neco Brett, who now plays professionally for Portland of Major League Soccer (MLS). DeFranco helped guide RMU to the NEC regular-season title his senior season. That team went 8-2 and reached the semifinals of the NEC Tournament.
Denniston, who brought DeFranco in with his first recruiting class, is not shy about pushing the former star for the Robert Morris Athletic Hall of Fame. The veteran coach said DeFranco is the only player he's nominated in two decades.
"Hopefully, Jason's day will come," Denniston said. "It certainly should."
As a player, DeFranco was a rock-solid, 5'8", 180-pounder who had little regard for his body. He played to win, and if that meant absorbing or dishing out physical punishment along the way, so be it.
DeFranco recalled a time when he collided with an opposing defender while going after a ball. Next thing he knew, everything went black.
"I was out for a few seconds," DeFranco said. "They had to take me out of the game."
Fifteen minutes later, he returned to the field.
"A knockout wasn't going to stop me," he said. "You do what you have to do to win. I was a captain, so you kind of have to do those things. Looking back on it, maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do from a health perspective, but you don't think of those things when you're competing. As a captain, I wanted to lead by example with the hope that attitude would rub off on the guys around me."
Denniston told of a time when DeFranco was so rough on an opposing player that the latter surrendered mid-game.
"The kid faked an injury," Denniston said. "He just didn't want to deal with Jason anymore."
These days, DeFranco remains close with Denniston. He shows up at RMU games from time to time. In those moments, DeFranco gets to reflect on the days when he, along with teammates such as Ben Abebe, Matt Henson, Rhian Dodds, Nick Goossen and Sean Arnold, paved a road to success for future teams.
"My experiences at Robert Morris were great ones," DeFranco said. "It was nice to be somewhat local and to have my family around to see me play. I also think back on all the relationships and friendships I made while I was there. Those folks remain my closest friends to this day."
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