For Immediate Release
November 29, 2011
Courtesy of the Brockton Enterprise, Written by Jim Fenton
He was not exactly high on the list of recruits being pursued by the University of New Haven football program four years ago.
Mike Gomes had just finished his career at Brockton High School where he had been a linebacker, but at 5-foot-8, he seemingly didn't have the size to continue playing that position at the Div. 2 level.
Still, Gomes had set his sights on New Haven, which was bringing back football after a four-year hiatus, and made his pitch to the Chargers.
"He sent us his film and we were talking to him a little bit,'' remembers New Haven coach Peter Rossomando. "But he was an undersized linebacker and we said, 'Ah, you know, we'll sort of work you out at our (summer) camp and see how it goes.'''
Gomes made the trip to Connecticut in the summer of 2008, not long after graduating from Brockton High, needing to make a highly favorable impression on the Chargers' coaching staff.
"I've always had to prove something whenever I touch the field, seeing how undersized I am,'' said Gomes. "I just took it as another challenge, another way to show people that I can actually play the game.''
Gomes passed that test with flying colors during the summer camp look, and he was invited to join New Haven's program as a walk-on.
Given the opportunity, Gomes has taken full advantage, becoming a two-time All-Northeast-10 Conference selection in three seasons and helping the Chargers, ranked fifth in the nation, reach the NCAA Div. 2 tournament this fall.
The goal of playing for the Chargers was not only fulfilled by Gomes, but he has turned into one of the top players in the conference while manning a position few 5-foot-8 players are able to handle.
"Once we got him here, we kind of figured he was a special player,'' said Rossomando of the senior who has one year of eligibility to go. "He just refused to lose at anything he did, whether it was working out in the weight room, conditioning, anything like that. He always wanted to be first. He always challenges himself and sees how far he can go. He's very self motivated.
"He has a very good football sense about him. He understands the game. He understands where he needs to be at his position. A lot of people, you can't teach that. It's just sort of in him.
"He works at it, he watches a lot of film, but you just knew at that first camp, this guy is always in the right place. He's always making tackles. It's really hard to block him even if you've got bigger people.
"He is a fierce competitor, about as fierce a competitor as I've ever been around in my 18 years of coaching. He just does not let anybody tell him he can't do anything. He doesn't care how big a guy is, how strong he is. He's going to attack the whole game.''
New Haven did not play a varsity schedule in 2008 when Gomes and his teammates were redshirted, and he was the starting strong safety in 2009, making the all-conference second team and the all-rookie team after registering 57 tackles with three interceptions.
Last season, when an injury left the Chargers shorthanded, Gomes was moved to linebacker where he was third on the team with 57 tackles, forced and recovered three fumbles and intercepted a pass. He stayed at linebacker this season and has made 47 tackles with a sack and an interception.
The lack of size has not been an obstacle for Gomes, who played linebacker during his days with the Boxers.
"That first year, (opposing players) definitely did wonder (about me),'' said Gomes. "I was out in the field and they were looking at me like, 'Oh, man, what's going on?'
"Now, it's like, after the game, each and every coach comes up to me and says how great it is to see me playing and doing what I have to do to get the job done. You sense respect from everyone in the conference.
"I think the advantages I have are the linemen think you're going to be soft and slow. They think you're going to come up and not really want to mess with them. But I do come up and give them a nice pop and shoot the gaps and make plays in the backfield. I really can't change my size, so why look at it as a disadvantage?''
Gomes, who will graduate next May with a degree in criminal justice and will be back as a fifth-year senior in 2012, wants to extend this season as far as possible. New Haven is in the NCAAs for the first time since 1997.
The persistence that Gomes had when he set his sights on New Haven has paid off for the small linebacker who makes things happen.
"I think about it now, and I'm like, 'I'm a starting Div. 2 linebacker, all-conference at 5-8,'" said Gomes. "It's kind of funny. I just take it day by day and enjoy it. I'm pretty blessed to be here.
"I basically went all out trying to get here and made it happen. It really worked out great. I've met a lot of people here who have shaped me into the man I am today. I met a lot of people in high school that really focused me into the right areas and pushed me towards my goals. I'm really appreciative for it.''
