At 13 years old, he was told he would never be a successful football player, especially not a running-back. At 18 years old, he became an all-state running-back, and received a division-1 offer to play safety. Today, Stefano Bicknese, plays safety at the University of New Haven with number 15 proudly worn on his back, savoring his last season on the blue turf.

Bicknese comes from Somers, a town in Westchester, New York, where he was a starter throughout most of his football career at Somers High School. When he was in middle school, Bicknese was on a travel baseball team, living out his childhood dream, hoping to someday play with the New York Yankees. In the eighth grade, he tried out for his school football team, where his coach told him he would never be good at the game, essentially telling him to give up before he even started. After that moment, Bicknese gained the motivation he needed to become a football player. He went on to achieve an all-state title in high school, and even wrote his college essay on his experience with the coach that tried to put him down. The essay described how being told he was not good enough ignited the flame he needed to push forward in his athletic career as a football player.

Bicknese says, “That man put me down, but I didn’t look at it that way… I took it as an opportunity to excel, and prove to him and to myself that I was good enough.”

During his sophomore year, Bicknese ranked third on the New Haven Chargers with 72 tackles, and second on the team last year with 75 tackles. The athlete is a 4-year-starter at the University, embracing his last games, despite his previous and current injuries, before he graduates in May.

In 2014, his freshman year as a member of the team, Bicknese suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder, a chipped bone in the socket, and a fracture on top of his humerus, resulting in the need for a latarjet surgery. Three years later, he has an unclear back injury, all from the game he loves. Currently, Bicknese is exploring options to play football overseas, and plans on opening a sports performance facility somewhere down the line.