In our build up to our 'Game of the Week' between the Birmingham Lions and Warwick Wolves, we were able to grab a quick interview with Todd Marquis. Todd is an American student currently completing his PhD at Warwick University.
Before
we begin the interview properly, can you provide the readers a bit of information
on yourself and your own playing experiences?
My own playing
experience is at Liberty University, a member of the Big South Conference in
NCAA Division 1 football. In America, I got a relatively late start, playing my
first organized year of football when I was about 13, then playing through high
school and college.
After college, I played in a sort
of developmental league in central Virginia. Effectively, it’s a league made of
guys who either were trying to play professionally or guys who had played and
were trying to develop some sort of skill or something before going back. It
was also a good league for those who played arena football, as their season
ended just before ours began, though the nearest team was 2 hours away in
Richmond.
It’s a bit of a long story, but I
felt confident I was going to get an NFL camp invite after that first season,
and prepared fully for some regional combines and American tryouts for the
Canadian Football League.
Before I could make any of these
combines, I contracted an infection called MRSA, which by itself nearly killed
me.
My parents came down to Virginia
from Ohio to be with me, and just as they began planning my funeral, I finally
took a turn for the better, and after a month in the ICU, was finally released
from the hospital. However, less than a week later, I was back in for open
heart surgery to transplant a new heart valve, as the old one had been damaged
by the infection.
I knew then that, no matter how
much I stood out at my game, the risk was too great for any team to pick me up.
I did get back into shape and play for the Virginia team again, but this time
it was just to show that I could, without the pressure of trying to go on to
the next level. I also played a partial season for an arena team in Texas, but,
frankly, the pay wasn’t worth the investment of time and expenses, so I opted
out after only a part of the time there.
You asked about photos of me from
Liberty University. I have to admit; I have scoured the web and my own personal
collection, and can’t find any game pictures. As odd as this sounds, the
digital camera is a fairly modern invention and really hasn’t caught on until
the last 6 or 7 years.
