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Thread: Calanda Broncos
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  #44  
Old 04-29-2012, 06:10 PM
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Story of the Basel game especially for you......

Steve Valentino leads Calanda Broncos to victory at Quarterback

Former University of Dayton Flyer Steve Valentino is now a member of the Calanda Broncos, the Swiss champion of the last three years and serious contender in the Eurobowl, the highest tournament, in all European football. The Broncos signed Valentino for his skills at Wide receiver and his explosiveness as a kick and punt return specialist. But not that exclusively. Steve Valentino also serves as backup quarterback to starter Marko Glavic. Yesterday, Valentino started his first game for the Broncos at the QB-position, when they rested many of their starters in the Swiss-league game vs. the Basel Gladiators.

Valentino took the job and he led his offense down the field, as if he was the signal-caller all the time. He threw perfect passes to local receivers like Lukas Lütscher and handled the option game with running backs Tino Muggwyler and Nathanel Fellberius. Tino Muggwyler scored the first touchdown of the game on a short run that came at the end of a drive, where Valentino more than once showed explosiveness in his running game. In the 2nd quarter, #7 scored a touchdown himself on a 4-yard run. Along with Muggwyler scoring his 2nd of three touchdowns of the night, the Basel Gladiators also scored on a short pass for a halftime score of 21:7.

As the game progressed, the Broncos pulled more and more of their starters off the field to rest them for Saturday’s Eurobowl game in Helsinki, Finland. Steve Valentino remained in the game and also passed for a touchdown, when he found his fullback Nathanel Fellberius in the endzone.

Heading into the 4th quarter, the day was over for Valentino, when the Broncos benched him in favor of the third string quarterback Patrick Moore. The 48-year old (!!) Moore from Alabama came to Switzerland more than 20 years ago, much like Steve Valentino to play football in overseas as a so called “import-player”. Obviously he stuck around, got married and now holds a Swiss passport. Who knows, maybe we still see Valentino at age 48 here in Chur, in the middle of the Alps, still playing at a high level and still helping develop young Swiss players.

But for now, Valentino returns to his original position as a wide receiver and return specialist for the next challenge in Eurobowl but I’m sure we’ll see him under center again in one of remaining Swiss league games. If not as a starter, then at least late in the game, when the Broncos lead with a big margin, as they usually do in the Swiss league, which is not really competitive with the level of the Broncos. They focus on the Eurobowl-tournament and their roster is clearly made to compete on the highest level in Europe.

So the Broncos have players with high college experience like former Oklahoma Sooner DJ Wolfe or SDSU Linebacker Andrew Preston and players, who have been in and out of NFL practice squads like Iro Luoto or Yoan Schnee, along with a skilled and highly motivated gang of local players and amateur players from all over Switzerland and its surrounding countries.

The fans love him – Steve Valentino – the big star from the United States of America. Like most “import-players”, he’s a fan favourite and a role model for young Swiss athletes.

Special English version authored by Mike Derungs (Chur, Sw.) exclusively for UDPride





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4 UDPriders Offer Mad Props to Flyer Gramps For This Totally Excellent Post:
Charlie B (04-29-2012), DetroitFlyer (04-29-2012), PIONEER 8 (04-30-2012), ud69 (04-29-2012)
 
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