Marcus: Hofstra QB Sidaras changes the play, ending his football career

He's 19, and his college football career is over - by his own choice.

Joe Sidaras, one of the best high school quarterbacks to play on Long Island, has had it. The former Floyd star has benched himself.

When Hofstra ended its football program, Sidaras, with three years of eligibility left, decided to drop the sport he had played - and excelled at - since childhood.

By all accounts, he has made a very logical and intelligent decision.

"I had a full ride at Hofstra," he said. "They paid for everything. Now if I stay there, just focus more on school and keep my grades up, I can be a normal kid. I have my scholarship. I can enjoy what I worked for."

Sidaras is majoring in elementary education.

"Everybody comes up to me and says, 'Joe, what are you doing? How could you not play football?' To other people, I was Joe Sidaras the football player. They are taken aback for a second and say, 'Dude, how can you do that?' Once I explain it, they are, 'Oh, you are right.' "

When Hofstra announced football's demise two months ago, the university pledged to honor all remaining scholarships. About 10 players opted to stay. Two of Sidaras' contemporaries, Brock Jackolski and Miguel Maysonet, are now at Stony Brook.

"At first I couldn't even picture myself not playing football anymore," said Sidaras, a two-time all-Long Island selection who threw for 2,796 yards and 40 touchdowns while at Floyd. "But the more I thought about it, I came to the point where it's not like this is life. I earned the education for free. I was blessed. I don't have to pay any student loans.

"Every single day from the time I was 5, I was focused on football. From eighth grade on, I was weight lifting four days a week. You get into 'we have to run today; we have conditioning and we have speed training.'

"I got to college, it was the same thing. Wake up at 5 a.m. and have weight lifting. Two hours of film. A one-hour meeting, a three-hour practice. Then do it all again tomorrow. I was on the go 24-7. Life was football all day, every day."

Sidaras' career was ready to take off at Hofstra. He and Steve Probst, now at Rhode Island, would have battled for the starting job next season. Sidaras, who was a redshirt freshman, threw one pass for 8 yards in Hofstra's final season. He also rushed 11 times for 31 yards and one touchdown and caught one pass. That is the extent of his college career.

Sidaras said Army and Stony Brook recruited him out of high school but Hofstra was always his first choice.

"Hofstra was the best fit for me. I don't regret it," he said. "I could never have thought about Hofstra not having a program. You don't think about that. Of all the scenarios you think about, the coach getting fired, playing time, you think of every one except that one."

Nothing in his decision should suggest that Sidaras agreed with the university's decision to drop football. He said, "I'll still walk around campus and think about it and it just hits me: Wow, there is no more football.

"There were 90 guys on the football team. I had 90 of my best friends; I didn't really need other friends. We came in the summer and before we started class, we had 90 friends on campus. It is definitely a little lonely. I just lost so many of my best friends."

Sidaras said the loss of football has cast a pall over the campus.

"I walked by the stadium and stopped for a couple of seconds and stared at it. I was like, 'Wow, I'll never suit up and play there again.'

"All the memories, even the bad ones, now do not seem as bad. The workouts where we were so exhausted and couldn't feel our legs from pushing the sleds. The times we ran in the snow last winter. You look at the stadium and see everything that happened there. Now it's all gone."

Where are they now?

Hofstra football transfers

Pos. Name Home New school

DB Chris Edmonds, Freeport, Rhode Island

WR Billy Morgan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island

DL Quincy Barr, Florida, Delaware

DL Ronnie Cameron, Westbury, Old Dominion

TE Jose Cruz, Pennsylvania, Syracuse

DB Jordan Dangerfield, Fla., Towson

WR Christian Dennis, Elon

OL Anthony Dima, Centereach, Massachusetts

LB Reggie Franklin, Valley Stream, Stony Brook

LB Said Gaida, N.J., Albany

QB Coy Glass, Calif., Indiana State

OL Jaren Harrell, Calif., Sacramento St.

DL Johnny Hatsfield, Fla., Coastal Carolina

DB Garrett Heron, Pa., Duquense

LB Basim Hudeen, N.J., Idaho St.

RB Brock Jackolski, Shirley, Stony Brook

DL Omar Jacobs, Calif., Maine

DB Dontavious Johnson, Fla., Coastal Carolina

CB Zamel Johnson, Temple

RB Carlton Koonce, N.J., Fordham

LB Deron Mayo, Va., Old Dominion

RB Miguel Maysonet, Riverhead, Stony Brook

OL Matt McBride, Hicksville, Rutgers

LB Maalik McVea, Freeport, C.W. Post

Tyler McFarlane, Yorktown Heights, Lafayette

DL Jamari Miller, N.J., Wagner

OL Derek Moore, Ohio, E. Kentucky

WR Anthony Nelson, Fla., Massachusetts

OL Tom Ottaiano, N.J., Monmouth

OL Jordy Paulemon, Brentwood, Villanova

QB Steve Probst, Farmingdale, Rhode Island

TE Nicholas Talbert, Conn., Fordham

DL Christopher Thomas, Staten Island, Coastal Carolina

WR Aaron Weaver, Freeport, Syracuse