Catch Up with the Jets Legend from Venezuela

Jim Gehman

Born in Venezuela and spending most of his early childhood in Sicily, when 11-year-old Pat Ragusa moved to the United States in 1974, for all he knew, football could have been English for a rolled-up sock.

And with his family making their home near Hofstra University on Long Island, while he became familiar with the culture and the language, having only played soccer, he was introduced to the game of football, as well.

"We lived close in proximity to where the Jets used to train at Hofstra. And once in a while, we used to go past it and I'd see the goal post sticking out," Ragusa said. "Then I'd go there and look behind the bushes, behind the fence. I was like, 'Wow, that's very cool.' And I watched football on TV. That's how I got into it.

"But believe it or not, I never got to a training camp practice up until I was there myself."

And how Ragusa got there was after graduating from East Rockaway High School, he went to St John's and earned the starting job as the kicker as a freshman. But after three years, he then played semi-pro ball for the Brooklyn Mariners, before returning to the university for the 1985 season.

And after not being selected during the 1986 NFL Draft, Ragusa made his way back to Hofstra after a St. John's teammate, Dennis Bligen, who was in his third year as a running back with the Jets, dropped his name with the coaches.

"He said, 'Oh, I think I have a guy who could maybe do something.' So that's how they brought me in, on the recommendation of Dennis Bligen," Ragusa said. "And they liked me. The (special teams) coach, Larry Pasquale, invited me to training camp.

"And in training camp, we had five kickers on the roster. Pat Leahy, he was the incumbent. He was there for about 13 years before I got there. So I was challenging Pat, a legend with the Jets.

"But I held my own. I appreciated what Pat was doing and he was very helpful, taking me under his wing a little bit. And once, my shoe broke and he gave me one of his shoes. Which was tremendous."

Ragusa's first preseason game was unusual in that it was a sellout and not the more common case of fans dressed as empty seats.

The Packers hosted the Jets at the University of Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium. Green Bay is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from the campus in Madison and it seemed like every fan between the two Wisconsin cities made their way to the game.

"It was like almost 80,000 people. You just look up and see the stadium full, and it's like, 'Wow!'" Ragusa said. "It was very exciting; the adrenaline was just flowing. It was unbelievable."

Ragusa was later released when the Jets cut their roster down to 60 players, but was signed again the following season.

"I came back because they liked me. I came from a small school and we really didn't do special teams," Ragusa said. "So everything I learned about kicking was on my own or watching guys on TV. That's about it. I went to training camp for two years and learned a lot about how to be a kicker, the technique about kicking. The way things work at the NFL level."

Released by New York for a second time late in the 1987 camp, Ragusa played semipro football again, this time for the Connecticut Giants. But when the NFL players went on strike after two games, the Jets signed him for a third time as a replacement player.

Making his NFL regular-season debut in New York's Week 4 game against Dallas, Ragusa connected on his only field goal attempt, a 20-yarder in the first quarter, and all three of his extra point tries in a 38-24 loss to the Cowboys.

"I remember the stoic Tom Landry with a fedora, just walking on the field all by himself," Ragusa said. "And I remember guys like Ed Too Tall Jones. And a friend of mine, Luis Zendejas, was the kicker for the other team."

Missing both field goal attempts the following game during a 6-0 loss in Indianapolis, in the Week 6 game against Miami at Giants Stadium, Ragusa kicked a 34-yard field goal and was four for four on extra point attempts in the Jets' 37-31 overtime victory.

Playing in three NFL games, which not many people have a chance to do, what makes Ragusa most proud that he was able to accomplish that?

"Well, coming from Sicily, we didn't know football back then," he said. "We came to this country, which was a great move for us, learning a new sport, learning a new culture. That's basically the highlight of everything."

After the strike ended, Ragusa re-joined the Connecticut Giants, and then signed with the Arena Football League's New York Knights in 1988, but suffered an injury prior to the season and was placed on Injured Reserve.

Now making their home on Long Island, Ragusa and his wife, Laura, have an adult daughter, Caroline. For the past 30 years, he has worked as an interpreter.

"With the Spanish-speaking population in this country, most of the work is in Spanish. And then sometimes I do Italian, Sicilian," Ragusa said. "I studied languages at St. John's, and went back to Venezuela on many occasions, Argentina, Italy, to immerse myself in the language. Latin is the root, and basically, everything is from the same root language. And I just absorbed it right away.

"Every day it's a different case. You meet different people every day. Just with the court proceedings or depositions, it's something new every day. Due to the COVID, we do a lot of depositions on Zoom. And a couple times a week, I do personal appearances in court. And once in a while, personal appearances for depositions with the lawyers."