Pat Ragusa (Photo courtesy of tailgating jerseys).
In the spirit of being late with Heritage Months in 2024, we will discuss Pat Ragusa, who is a player that is significant in the Italian American and Hispanic American heritage communities at the same time. Ragusa has lived a fascinating life, so we will highlight his many contributions to multiple communities, particularly within the realm of the NFL.
The Man, The Myth, The Legend
There’s a lot we don’t know about Pat Ragusa. Like the majority of men in the NFL, he didn’t play 1,000 seasons like Joe Flacco and Vinny Testaverde or coach a Super Bowl-playing team like Nick Sirianni—the other three men we highlighted during Italian American Heritage Month 2024.
Ragusa is different though—there’s a lot of things we don’t know about him growing up or what he’s doing now. We just know the bare bones details about Ragasu, like so many players in the NFL. Much like Joe Flacco, he didn’t discuss his Italian heritage. He didn’t talk much about anything in the NFL since his presence wasn’t huge.
But Ragusa doesn’t need to talk about it, because he is about it. Although we do love when players do talk about their heritage if they feel so inclined. Ragusa is still a role model and representation for the Italian American and Hispanic American community in the NFL. Albeit with only one publicly available photo of him during his time in the NFL.
The Life and Times of Pat Ragusa
Prepare yourselves; Pat Ragusa’s childhood is exciting. He was born in Venezuela in 1963. His parents had immigrated from Sicily to Venezuela before Ragusa was born in pursuit of a better life. Ragusa is one of two Venezuelan-born people who have played in the NFL so far.
When he was two, he returned to Sicily with his parents. He lived in Limina for 10 years, remembering warm days and hours of playing soccer. The economy in Sicily was not solid, so once again Ragusa’s father immigrated. This time to New York City. He brought along Pat and his other son too. America wasn’t really Pat Ragusa’s thing—the language barrier was real. He knew two English words: hello and kick. Sicily was also warm, and when he arrived in New York, it was snowing, and he was ready to turn it back around. I don’t blame him.
Like many immigrants before and after Pat, the young boy was tasked with acclimating to his new environment as an older child this time. Sports was the conduit he used to fit in and thrive with his peers. Soccer had taught him how to kick, and that became a valuable skill. If you kicked something in the game, Ragusa was going to ace it. As a New York Jets fan, he heard announcers speak of soccer-styled kicks, and so this planted a seed in his mind. He would practice by kicking balls over power lines.
In high school, at East Rockaway High School, Pat tried for the JV football team and was immediately brought on the varsity team as a freshman. According to Ragusa, the “school hasn’t even tried an extra point or field goal for years, so they were happy to have me.” That high school was down bad, much like his favorite childhood NFL team in 2024.
College Days
Ragusa attended St. John’s University in Queens, New York, in 1981. After enrolling, he tried out for and won the starting kicking job. Mr. Ragusa was a solid kicker who did well in Queens. In 1982, he made 33 out of 33 extra points, and in 1983, he had a record for the most consecutive extra points made (50).
The kicker was kicked off the team in 1984 because he wouldn’t do off-season weightlifting. He said he was a natural who didn’t need weights. This may be surprising to us today, but for much of the history of football, the importance of weightlifting was either unknown or underappreciated. In 1984, Ragusa played semi-professional ball with the Brooklyn Mariners. His longest kick was 49 yards that year. Kicks used to be shorter back in the day for many reasons as well.
In a rare quote from the man himself, Pat Ragusa describes how he handled the weight-lifting requirement when he returned to St. John’s in 1985 for his final year: “I worked it out. I would sign in at the weight room, do five push-ups and sign out.” That’s a level of ingenuity I can get behind. It also gives us an idea about his humor.
A Short Stint In The NFL
To be honest, Pat Ragusa’s career in the NFL was short and unremarkable. It was likely short because it was unremarkable, and vice versa. The kicker was left undrafted in 1986. A recommendation from a teammate in college landed him a tryout with the Jets. He did well and was hailed as the kicker for the New York Jets in the 1986-1987 season. Sort of. He played three games that season.
Ragusa made two out of four of his field goals. Leaving him with a 50-50 chance of making it, like many kickers in the NFL today it feels like. In terms of extra points, Pat showed out. He made seven out of seven extra points for a total of 13 points, which is a stat that doesn’t really make sense to me. Perhaps within the context of 1980s football, that would be more clear.
Once Ragusa retired from the NFL, he did do a little more professional ball. He played for the Connecticut Giants, a team in the Continental Interstate Football League (CIFL) in 1987, and the New York Knights of the AFL in 1988. A groin injury ended Pat Ragusa’s playing days. His love for the game would then be transferred to coaching at the high school he graduated from.
The New York Jets Were Petty
The sheer number of times the New York Jets signed and released Pat Ragusa in a short period of time was unfair. He had a tryout with New York, had another one two months later, and was then signed in July of 1986. He then got fired after pre-season despite having a perfect record in favor of veteran and fellow Pat, Pat Leahy.
New York decided to bring back Ragusa, signing him in 1987 to compete with the other Pat for the starting kicking job. He got fired after the preseason again in favor of Leahy, despite a perfect extra-point record. Ragusa moved on to work at a gas station and play in the CIFL league. He was then brought back during the 1987 NFL strike as a replacement player. Unsurprisingly, after the three games played during the strike, Ragusa got fired again in favor of the other Pat for the last time. Petty is in that team’s DNA.
Conclusion
Ragusa has an amazing story. He was one of two players in the NFL born in Venezuela and immigrated twice to two different countries (Italy and America) as a child. That requires a level of flexibility and adaptation that most of us can only dream of. Ragusa saw what it took to fit in in New York and put those kicking skills to use since he was a teenager.
At the high school, collegiate, semi-professional, and professional level, he used leg skill to make money. Inadvertently, perhaps, Pat Ragusa became a role model and much-needed representation for Italian American and Hispanic American communities in the NFL. All within the greater New York Metropolitan area too.
