Cioffi (left, Canadian Press photo) and Stanback (right, CFL.ca Photo/Peter McCabe) have established themselves as rookies.
“Oh…Stanback runs over a man!”
It is November 21, 2013 and ESPN announcer Rece Davis sums up the play, which will be seen by millions across ESPN and social media in the coming days.
The replay is even wilder; Central Florida quarterback Blake Bortles finds hulking running back William Stanback on a swing pass.
Stanback, a freshman tank out of Hempstead, N.Y., then turns upfield and blasts rookie Rutgers corner Anthony Cioffi into outer space.
“Freshman versus freshman, listen!”
Today, five years after the play, those two freshmen have become standout rookies in the Canadian Football League; Stanback a bruising feature back for the Montreal Alouettes, Cioffi a versatile linebacker with the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
Their journeys to Canada, however, were markedly different.
A late college signing after Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone left for a job with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, Stanback joined UCF with the potential to become a program-defining power back.
“He was a late recruit for us, initially he was headed to Syracuse — their head guy ended up leaving, so he fell into our laps with Coach (George) O’Leary,” remembers Danny Barrett, former head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2000-06) and Stanback’s position coach at UCF. “He was a big back, actually more of an athlete — he’d played QB in the wildcat, safety, wherever — (but) with the ball in his hand he was fast, dynamic and did well in our pro-style offence at UCF.”
As a freshman, he racked up a respectable 629 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns on a 12-1 UCF team that won the Fiesta Bowl.
Then, dealing with both injuries and increased expectations, he compiled 752 total yards and 12 majors in his 2014 sophomore season.
But early in a tumultuous 2015 season, with UCF mired at 0-3 and Stanback averaging 0.9 yards-per-carry, he was dismissed for “continuous failure to comply with athletic policy and team rules,” according to his then-head coach O’Leary.
“Knowing the family values that were instilled in him, that was the disappointing part,” explains Barrett, now the running backs coach with the NFL’s Houston Texans. “He knew better. He got caught up with the wrong crowd, (and) obviously it cost him a chance to finish his career at UCF.
“He comes in as a freshman, second-team All-Conference, (the) next year first-team All-Conference, so he fit into our plans in 2015, it was a big year,” continues Barrett. “He took a left turn, (and) that was disappointing to say the least.”
While Stanback’s collegiate career hit the rocks, Cioffi became a regular lunch-pail type of player at Rutgers.
The Springfield, N.J. native made five starts at corner in each of his freshman and sophomore campaigns, before becoming a full-time starter at safety.
“I feel that I progressed as a young man, having a role on that defence at a young age,” explains Cioffi, who has embraced life in the nation’s capital. “It was a growing-up experience for me, (and) something that really helped me out this year through my (CFL) rookie season.”
His memory of that night in 2013, and it going viral on ESPN’s Sportscenter the following day?
“I wasn’t really thinking much about it, (it was) a normal play,” laughs Cioffi. “I basically lined up again, and made plays right after that happened on defence and special teams, (so) I didn’t care about all that.”
By the time he became a starter, Rutgers was a competitive afterthought in the Big 10 — not that it impacted his all-out approach to the game.
A 39-point loss against Penn State? He posted a career-high 10 tackles and broke up a pass in his end zone.
A 42-point loss against No. 1 Ohio State? He registered five tackles and recovered a fumble.
“It’s been a blessing, filled with opportunities (and) I know I have to make the most out of everything,” says Cioffi of his time at Rutgers and immediate opportunities in Ottawa. “God willing, everything continues to pan out.
“The main thing is hard work and dedication, keeping your head down and grinding (because) you never know what’s on the other side of that door unless you put the work in.”
That door, as it happened, led to opportunities in both the NFL and CFL for the wiry freshman cornerback in the video.
Will Stanback does not run from his past, nor does he complain about the road less-travelled that he had to follow to get to professional football.
“It was just about learning how to be a man, (and) owning up to the responsibilities that I had to take,” says Stanback after a midweek practice in Montreal. “Understanding the consequences I went through.
“Understanding that the things you do can jeopardize your future.”
Those things — repeated broken team rules and policies — cost him his spot at UCF.
There is a long list of people who wrote him off at various points; when his production dropped off with the Golden Knights, when he was dismissed from UCF, or when he dropped down to Division-II Virginia Union.
In his single season with the Panthers, he was a man amongst boys; 1,299 rush yards, 15 touchdowns and an All-Conference nod later, he signed with the Green Bay Packers.
“It’s been a blessing, being able to fulfill my childhood dream of playing professional football,” says Stanback. “Especially when, at some points in my football career, it looked like I wouldn’t.
“I’m thankful there are those people that are always in my corner.”
One of those in his corner as a rookie in Canada was Tyrell Sutton.
A sixth-year veteran who was dealt to BC midseason, Sutton took the 24-year-old Stanback under his wing — and respects the grind he went through to get to the CFL.
“There’s nothing you can do about that, just keep proving them wrong,” says Sutton of his former teammate’s past. “Virginia Union, that (D-II) experience would be humbling for anybody and it humbled him.”
Stanback came to work with his learning cap on, and became a sponge around the 31-year-old Sutton.
“We worked perfectly fine, he’s a great guy that’s trying to learn and get better,” explains Sutton. “There’s nothing you can do about the past, and (if) people want to keep bringing it up, you keep shutting it down (with your play).”
The proof is in the statistical pudding: Both Stanback and Cioffi have been impact players for their respective CFL teams as rookies.
Stanback is averaging 6.7 yards-per-carry, the most of any feature back in the league.
Cioffi has registered 44 tackles and forced two fumbles.
Stanback leads all eligible rookies with 508 rush yards in just nine games.
“He’s a hard-nosed football player who comes to work and wants to prepare himself. He’s dynamic, (and) he can do a lot of things,” says Ottawa REDBLACKS defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe. “He’s a guy that brings a certain physical aspect to the game, a guy that likes contact.”
The DC is talking about Cioffi, and how the Italian-American has fit in perfectly at the SAM linebacker spot — really more of a defensive back, he insists — in his system.
But he could just as easily be describing Stanback, because of how similar the two players are on the field.
Constantly banging, crashing and moving at full speed, they are the kind of football players you can’t take your eyes off.
Just as they are similar on the field, the two players are also reflections of the strong family backgrounds they come from — just ask their coaches.
“He comes from a hard-working family, you can just tell how close and tight-knit that family is,” says Thorpe of the Cioffi clan. “In mini-camp, his uncle was up here, he had people in the stands watching him. You can tell that carries over into how he prepares himself and battles.”
While Stanback’s time at UCF did not end well, Barrett saw enough of his player’s background to know he had the support system in place to facilitate a comeback.
“I had the opportunity to meet his mom, dad and brother when we played up north at Temple, (and) sitting down and talking with them, I (realized) he’s a young man that came from good character,” remembers Barrett, who spent 14 years playing in the CFL as a quarterback. “For a player to have that, a family that’s going to forgive you and support you, it’s something that I’m sure has helped him.”
Nearly five years after the play that made Sportscenter, Stanback and Cioffi are here, in Canada.
Stanback is a changed man from the one whose UCF career sputtered; he is the kind of player the Alouettes felt comfortable handing the reins to midseason.
Cioffi has changed, too; no longer a lanky defensive back, he is the kind of player who finds a way to make game-changing plays.
The two followed each other on Instagram after an August meeting between the Als and REDBLACKS, and might have a small hint of their similarities.
“We actually started talking after the game,” chuckles Cioffi. “He’s a funny dude (and) a great player, and it’s awesome to see guys that you played against flourish in this league.”
Much of the story of their careers is still to be written, and their focus is certainly more on the road ahead than the one behind.
But the two will be linked forever by the eye-popping play that happened five years and a lifetime ago in Florida.