REAL MEN WEAR PINK Taking on a cause

By Joe Scalzo

On May 27, four days after his mother lost her battle with leukemia, Eric Starr was standing in Cunningham-Becker Funeral Home in Poland when his teammates and his coaches walked in the door, his second family mingling with his first.

When you talk to a coach or a player at Cardinal Mooney, one of the things you hear over and over again is the concept of family. Of being more than teammates. Of being brothers. So it only makes sense that his Cardinal teammates would help lift him up on that day.

After all, how many hours had Starr spent sweating and bleeding on the field in order to keep his teammates upright?

“Football is a very big part of Cardinal Mooney — very big — but the relationships and friendships that are developed are even bigger,” said assistant coach Chris Amill. “Through all the blood, sweat and tears, at the end of the day, these same guys are still together, looking out for each other and being brothers.

“To know you have so many loved ones there for you makes things a little easier for you to go on every day and try to do your best.”

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Starr’s mother, Patricia Jo, was a 1973 Ursuline High graduate. She married a classmate, Brian, and they had three kids, Shannon, Jeremy and Eric. All three went to Mooney, a natural fit since they went to St. Nicholas in Struthers.

“They didn’t push us one way or another,” said Starr, “My dad still puts it in my face a little bit when they [Ursuline] win, but nothing big.”

Soon after Shannon graduated in 2003, Starr’s mother was diagnosed with cancer. She appeared to beat it at first, but about 21‚Ñ2 years ago the disease returned.

After she passed away, one of the classmates that offered Starr encouragement was a senior-to-be named Donald D’Alesio, whose own mother had died two years earlier of breast cancer.

“I said, ‘I know exactly what you’re going through, so if you need anything just let me know,’ ” said D’Alesio. “It’s rough to go through, but we’re all here for him.”

Starr entered this season as the third-best tackle on a team with two Division I-level recruits manning the position: Eric Vendemia and Eric Franklin. He was assured of playing time, but he wasn’t going to start.

Then, a few days into two-a-day practices, Vendemia quit the team. Starr was elevated immediately.

“He stepped right in, works hard every day and really takes pride in what he does,” said Amill. “All I can say is he is doing a great job.”

Starr has taken care of things on the football field and, in return, football has taken care of him.

“Being around the team just helps a lot,” he said. “Getting your mind off things, going to practice, playing games. It just helps you cope with things.”

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D’Alesio’s mother, Elaine, battled breast cancer for seven years. The first two times it appeared, she beat it. The third time proved to be too much and she passed away in June of 2007.

D’Alesio was entering his sophomore year in 2007. He was a promising athlete — his father, Donald, was a longtime basketball coach at Chaney and his grandfather, Mike Butch, was a longtime official and Steel Valley Conference commissioner — but he was also a quiet kid who tended to internalize things.

Sports were his outlet.

Three games into that 2007 season, starting cornerback Roberto Morales tore his ACL and D’Alesio was thrust into the lineup and never left.

“God works in mysterious ways,” said Amill. “Football, I believe, is a part of their [D’Alesio and Starr] healing process.

“During the toughest time of their life, God made a way for them to not only go out and hit, block and beat up on other teams, but also be around people they care about and love.”

When asked if football helped him deal with his mom’s death, D’Alesio nodded.

“Oh yeah, it definitely has” said D’Alesio, whose older sister Erika graduated 21‚Ñ2 years ago. “Everyone here is a bunch of brothers. We’re here so much together, it becomes your second home. We eat lunch together, we got to school together and we’re there at football for God knows how long.

“It’s a family. It’s helped me get through the day when it’s not a good one.”

D’Alesio was a first-team All-SVC defensive back last year and was one of the team’s best players this fall until injuring his MCL against Ursuline in Week 9. He’s expected to be back in two weeks, provided the Cardinals are still playing.

“I can’t wait,” he said.

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Which brings us back to that Ursuline game.

Earlier this fall, Mooney’s seniors decided they wanted to do something to aid cancer awareness.

October was breast cancer awareness month and NFL teams were joining high school teams — particularly volleyball — in raising money and awareness of the disease.

The Cardinals decided to use the Ursuline game — their biggest regular season game — as the platform for their message, wearing pink tape, pink wristbands, pink cleats (and shoelaces) and pink mouthpieces (courtesy of team doctor Greg Iaderosa).

“They came to me with some ideas in September, but they wanted to wait until the Ursuline game because it was Senior Night, which would make honoring the mothers of these two players and anyone else that may have passed and survived even more special,” said Amill.

Outside of D’Alesio’s injury — he called it the worst pain he’s ever felt in his life, but he was relieved he hadn’t tore his ACL — the game went well.

The players’ families loved the tribute, the Cardinals got a win over their rival and, in a small way, both Starr and D’Alesio got to share Senior Night with their mothers.

“She would have loved it,” said Starr, smiling. “She loved that stuff.”

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Before the season started, the Cardinals wrote down their goals, listing things like make the playoffs (check), go undefeated (check ... so far) and win a Division III state title (we’ll see).

It’s a safe bet they didn’t write things like “Grow in our friendships” or “Be there in the hard times.” Guys don’t tend to think like that.

But that’s what happens. Over the hot August practices and the 10-week (and counting) season, players share the best and worst parts of their lives. And when the games are done, those are the things that live on, Amill said.

“To be a part of Mooney football is special and that is why so many alumni return to coach or return for camps or other events,” said Amill, a 1993 Mooney High graduate. “Mooney football is great. The experiences, the friendships and the memories are even greater.

“But the greatest thing of all is the extended family you gain for the rest of your life.”

scalzo@vindy.com