No quit in this Cat’
WHENit was suggested to Jets linebacker Mike Catapano that the word “survivor’’ might best encapsulate his football career — which, in the span of just three years, already has included two season-ending injuries and a stunning release by the team that drafted him — he politely interrupted in mid-sentence.
“I think ‘fighter’ is better,’’ Catapano said. “‘Survivor’ sounds like you’re just trying to stay afloat. Fighting, that’s what I’m about. I just keep coming. Doesn’t matter what you throw at me, I just keep coming … like the movie, ‘The Terminator.’”
Catapano is not your cookie-cutter NFL player who entered the league drafted from a big college football program.
He’s a local kid from Bayville on Long Island who played his highschool ball at Chaminade and grew up bleeding Jets green, idolizing Curtis Martin. He went to Princeton, not a football factory, and got drafted by the Chiefs in 2013.
During a phone call with The Post on Tuesday, Catapano’s father, Mike, recalled a day at the gym during his son’s sophomore year at Princeton when he tried to encourage his dreams, well aware players from Ivy League teams do not draw a lot of attention from NFL scouts.
“Mike, you just get on the field, and once you do that, I know you’re going to prove yourself,’’ the dad told his son.
“Dad, I’m not just going to make a camp, I’m going to get [freaking] drafted,’’ the son told his dad.
“Sometimes you have to set a goal that takes your breath away,’’ the elder Catapano said. “Once he puts something in his head and envisions it, he makes it happen.’’
Yet Catapano’s path to the NFL (and sticking once he got there) hardly has been a magic carpet ride. It has been littered with enough moments to make a lesser man quit.
“My story shows that it’s not all smooth sailing, that you’re going to have tons of adversity — injuries, things not working out the way you want,’’ Catapano said. “I don’t think anyone works as hard as I do.’’
Three years that have included one seasonending concussion (2014 in Kansas City), one release (in 2015 by the Chiefs) and a season-ending foot injury late last year with the Jets. Now, Catapano is considered a key piece to a Jets defense that ranked fourth in the NFL last season. Catapano’s start in Saturday night’s preseason game against the Giants was a symbolic moment for him because it was against the Giants last Dec. 6 when he suffered a freak Lisfranc injury in his right foot and didn’t played again in 2015. “Of course, there are always moments of fear, always moments of ... ‘is this going to work out?’” Catapano said. “You’re going to feel afraid. Courage is fighting against it, not feeling that fear. During those moments, I lean on my girlfriend Jenna [Redel], my parents [Mike and Barbara] and my sister, April. They are my rock.’’ Catapano and Redel met three years ago in Kansas City, where she is from and was a Chiefs cheerleader. “I never recall a moment when he was at a low, because that’s just not who Mike is,’’ Redel said by phone. “He’s always confident in himself, always strong. But there were times when I could feel it even though it was not verbal.’’ Everyone close to Catapano is hoping the roadblocks are behind him, that he can stay healthy and carry on with the NFL career he always has wanted. In the midst of a transition from defensive end to outside linebacker and down from 290 pounds to 270, Catapano is expected to start again in Thursday night’s preseason finale against the Eagles. Once the regular season begins, it looks like he will share time with rookie third-round pick Jordan Jenkins. A date that looms large on the Catapano calendar is Sept. 25, when the Jets play at Kansas City. But first things first for a player who takes nothing for granted: Thursday night’s preseason finale. And, if you know what’s good for you, don’t refer to the fourth preseason game as meaningless or garbage time. “People that don’t think it’s important probably aren’t going to stay around too long,’’ Catapano said. “I go into every game the same way: Like it’s the last game I’ll ever play.’’