Boston College Athletics
Aponavicius Becomes Unlikely Household Name
October 18, 2006 | Football
Oct. 18, 2006
Aponavicius has become a household name in college football. Funny thing is, most people don't even know how to pronounce it.
It's not that Steve Aponavicius didn't want to play football at Easton High School in Easton, Pa. It's just that his high school team already featured two place-kickers who went on to play at the collegiate level. So he stuck to soccer, eventually earning All-Area honorable mention accolades in 2003 and 2004 and serving as captain of his baseball team in 2005.
And it's not that he didn't want to be part of the Boston College football program when he enrolled in the fall of 2005. After all, he did paint his body (with a "B", sitting to the right of his friend with the "C" emblazoned on his chest) for the Eagles' home opener vs. Army last season. His shirtless enthusiasm earned him a brief appearance in the team's season highlights video.
Suffice it to say he will play an even bigger role in the 2006 video. Shortly after the Army game last season, Aponavicius (pronounced Oppa-NAH-vu-chus) brought a borrowed football and a $10 tee to Alumni Stadium and started practicing field goals. When he saw graduate assistant coach Jay Civetti approaching him, he thought he was being run off the field. Instead, Civetti asked Aponavicius if he would be interested in walking on to the team, explaining "we're kind of low on kickers right now."
Aponavicius ran back to his room and called special teams coach Jerry Petercuskie, then met with running backs coach Jason Swepson, who oversees BC's walk-on program. Quicker than you can say his name, he was kicking the ball through the uprights on the practice field and suiting up for games. But there was one problem - since he had never played football before on any level, he couldn't exactly figure out how to put on his pads.
Not knowing exactly how to pronounce his name, his coaches and teammates nicknamed him "Sid Vicious". In reality, however, Aponavicius was more Billy Joel than punk rocker; he had, after all, grown up a stone's throw away from blue collar Allentown, and he still possessed the humility and work ethic instilled by his parents. But last week, BC's Sid Vicious gained rock star status when he was picked by Coach Tom O'Brien to start in a national TV game against Virginia Tech in place of Ryan Ohliger, who had been suspended indefinitely due to a violation of team rules. That's the Virginia Tech, you know, the Virginia Tech that eats kickers for lunch. And that's national TV, ESPN on a Thursday night.
And while coaches, teammates, fans and his parents held their collective breath a bit, Sid Vicious seemed unfazed by it all. It was hard to miss the ear-to-ear smile after he nailed both of his PATs and both of his field goals on the way to outscoring Virginia Tech by himself while Jan and Ben jumped and cheered and high-fived other parents in the stands. After the game, he ran to the student section where his painted body stood a year before and jumped into the arms of his fellow students.
He became one of the hottest stories in college football. The next morning, he received a standing ovation when he walked into class. He fielded calls from the local media as well as Sports Illustrated, ESPN and CNN, maintaining the ear-to-ear smile through it all.
