Often, when you look at a New Jersey high school state champion team, you will find the roster littered with players committed to colleges for that specific sport. However, it is not often that you find star players on the team that are committed to play other sports.
For Bridgewater-Raritan High School alumnus and Ithaca College football athlete Joe Spirra, that was the case. Before even stepping onto the Bridgewater-Raritan baseball field in the 2024 season, Spirra was committed to play football at Ithaca a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 3 school in Ithaca, New York.
Despite his commitment to football, Joe originally planned on pursuing a college baseball career up until his sophomore year of high school.
Spirra also held offers from Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island and the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, both of which being NCAA Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) schools for football.
“My recruiting process was long and tiring, but definitely a fun experience,” Spirra recalled.
To the casual football enthusiast, the decision would have been easy: head to Holy Cross or Bryant and get the opportunity to be crushed by Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) powerhouses like Syracuse and Boston College in some of the most storied stadiums in college football yearly.
But for Spirra, the reasoning behind his choice to go to Ithaca was insightful and interesting. He just wanted to play for a successful football team that was within a comfortable proximity to home.
“The football team was good. The distance from home was not too far but not too close. That’s what really swayed me to go to Ithaca,” he said.
Instead of being a one or two-year starter at a FCS school, Spirra is thriving for Ithaca as a starting linebacker mere months into his college career.
Joe described his role in the team as being like a sponge.
“[I am] learning as much as I can and as fast as I can from the older players and coaches,” he said.
Despite his success with Ithaca, Spirra’s role is a lot different from that with BRHS football. Just last year, Joe was captain of the team and played nearly every snap on both sides of the ball.
In an interview last year, BRHS’ varsity football coach DJ Catalano described Spirra.
“[He was] probably the best football player [on the team], but also one of [the] best leaders. He just does everything the right way and he goes about it in a way that he’s very humbled with it. I think people see that and gravitate towards him and just naturally want to follow and be like him,” Catalano remarked.
The transition from star senior back to up-and-coming freshman was understandably tough. Spirra, a 1st team All-Area and All-Division winner, led BRHS in tackles and scored 7 touchdowns last year. Having the patience to take an unfamiliar yet necessary contributing role without being a star is a virtue. Joe learned quite a bit from his high school football career.
“I realized hard work pays off, it just takes time,” he said.
He did play baseball and helped Bridgewater-Raritan High School win its first Group 4 state championship last spring.
From the beginning of August, Spirra and his Ithaca teammates spent their time training and preparing for the season. The team was ranked No. 20 in the nation for Division 3 according to NCAA.com before the season had even started, largely in part to their successful 2023 campaign.
The season prior, The Bombers finished with a 9-3 record, won the Liberty League and reached the second round of the Division 3 football championship. Although Spirra and the entire team looked to build off of this success, Joe’s goals were clearly outlined on simply enjoying the game.
Off the field, Spirra majors in Clinical Health Studies and hopes to become a physical therapist.
It takes a truly gifted person to balance the responsibilities of a student-athlete, especially at the collegiate level. Coaches, teammates and peers will attest that Joe Spirra has all of the intangible qualities to not only be a great football player, but a great leader.
