Age is no obstacle for Strom
NORTH SMITHFIELD MAN TAKES FIELD AT age 50
NORTH SMITHFIELD – One day in late winter 2017, Chris Strom decided he wanted to return to playing semi-pro football, and he had the unenviable task of driving home to Mendon and telling his wife of 20 years, Beverly, that it was just something he had to do.
He didn’t know how she’d react, but she apparently took it better than he believed she would.
“She said, ‘Just don’t get hurt,’” laughed Strom, who – when he’s not working as a salesman for a Milford-based construction company – serves as the seventh- and eighth-grade coach for the North Smithfield Xpress American
Youth Football program.
“She’s pretty supportive of me and things I want to do,” he added. “My son
Liam (a 6-3, 190-pound sophomore starting tight end/defensive end for the Nipmuc Regional High team in Upton) was all excited. He was, like, ‘Yeah, Dad.’”
The fact he wanted to return to the gridiron was never much of a surprise, as he had played most of his life. He nevertheless worried before what she’d say about returning to the game weeks after his 49th birthday.
After spending last summer and fall representing the Massachusetts Warriors, a Double-A member of the New England Football League, he chose to move up to the Triple-A Rhode Island Wardogs, who make the North Smithfield High turf their “Boneyard” home.
“I used to play a lot of indoor flag football over in Northboro, and a guy on my team asked me if I had ever considered getting back into semi-pro,” stated Strom, now 50 and easily the oldest member of his new squad.
“I just dismissed it, but when he mentioned it again about a week later, I started thinking seriously about it.
“I went back to him and said, ‘You know what? I’m going to give it a shot,’ and he was happy; he knew I could still play (tackle) football. I tried out (for the Warriors) in May and made it. I even started (at defensive tackle) over some of the guys who had started the year before.
“During practice, the guys didn’t ask me (about my age), I didn’t offer it,” he continued with a laugh. “If they did ask, I didn’t hide anything. Some guys were, like, ‘Are you kidding? That’s awesome. Good for you.’ Some others said, ‘Man, you’re crazy, but you can still play.’ That made me feel great.
“If anybody called me ‘Old man’ or anything like that, it motivated me. I wanted to prove to them I could still do what they do, that age is just a number. Like I said, I never missed a practice or a game with the Warriors, and I don’t know now, either.
“I was kind of the one who set the example. Coaches would say, ‘Look, guys, Chris is here at every practice, he busts his butt and he does what we tell him to do. You can learn from his example.’ That made me feel terrific, too. I’ve always considered myself a very good teammate.”
When asked how difficult it is trying to keep up with younger athletes, Strom chuckled, “Well, it’s hard, yeah, but I wouldn’t say it’s completely difficult because I know so much about the game. But because most of these guys are so much younger, the game does move faster.”
He indicated he decided to move up to this new level, the highest in the NEFL, for assorted reasons.
“I’ve known (head coach) Ruben Costa a long time,” he noted. “I used to see him at the gym a lot – the [Work Out World] in Bellingham – and we used to talk all the time about football because he played, too. And the organization was located a lot close to my home, like 10 minutes away, but I also took it as a personal quest to see if I could hang with the best of the best.
“I think I’m doing great,” he added of his making three tackles in the Wardogs’ previous two victories over the Southern Maine Raging Bulls and the defending league champion Connecticut Panthers just last week. “They keep me out there, but I also know I have to earn my time because I’m one of the newest guys on the team.”
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Having the discipline to play this rugged game has never been an issue for Strom, who still stands 6-2, 265 and doesn’t come close to looking a half-century sold. He’s got quite a history with the sport.
He started at defensive end his final three years at Milford High before graduating in 1986, and – as a sophomore – paced the Scarlet Knights to the Mass. Division III Super Bowl championship, held then at the old Foxboro Stadium. That squad finished the campaign a perfect 12-0.
“That was an amazing experience,” he noted.
Strom then moved on to semi-pro ball with the then-perennial champion Marlboro Shamrocks, helping them to three straight Eastern Football League crowns between 1989-91. But it gets better.
He already had enlisted in the U.S. Army, and was activated for Operation Desert Shield on Jan. 17, 1991. He served as a Military Police officer for the Yankee Division, and was stationed in Saudi Arabia.
“Basically, we policed area towns in Saudi and destroyed any weapons that could be used against American forces,” he said. “I was over there for three months.”
He served six years of active duty, then two more for the Army National Guard in his hometown of Milford.
After he returned home, it didn’t take him long to begin playing semi-pro again, this time with the Medway Tigers. He did that for two years, but confessed it was time to get a “real job,” hooking on with a Milford construction company.
He’s been in his current job as a heavy construction equipment salesman for approximately 15 years now. And, in his leisure time, he works out, runs and lift weights to aid in his football career.
“I’ve actually made a joke of (my age) with the guys,” he laughed. “When some of the ‘youngsters’ start complaining about the workload or being sore, I always say, ‘Just wait ‘til you’re 50, then tell me how you feel.’ If they don’t know how old I am, they’ll be, like, ‘You’re 50? Man, you sure don’t look it.’ Some don’t believe it.”
Teammate Manny Boone, 33, a Woonsocket High grad who is Tolman graduate Jeff Costa’s blind-side protector, calls Strom “a beast. That guy can really play.”
As for how much longer Strom will take to the gridiron, he admits he’s unsure. He did say he’s grateful his wife and son attend every game to support their husband and dad, respectively.
“I’ll see where I’m at, at the end of the season; we’ll see if I’m injury-free, then I’ll reevaluate,” he admitted softly. “I don’t know what 51 is going to bring, but we’ll see when that day comes (next Jan. 30).
“All I’m worried about right now is the rest of the season and winning a championship,” he added. “That’s all. We play (Mill City) in Lynn (Mass.) on Saturday night, and if we win that, we’ll be 3-2. That’s all I’m looking at right now.”