James Durante '20 Recruiting Profile

I ve been playing football for 11 years now and during the 15 seasons of playing this sport I ve came across and been coached by many different people. After each practice the coaches would always have us take a knee surrounding them so they could talk to us about our performance & intensity of that day. The coaches always had something different to say each day but I ll never forget what one of the coaches said after practice and ever since I ve lived by this quote, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn t work hard”(Tim Notke). Football has made me into the person I am today. I ve developed a leadership mentality that my coaches appraise and recognize me for. Football has also helped me improve characteristics such as work ethic, maturity, integrity and passion for this amazing game. Football has also given me a reason to pay more attention in school and this is why I succeed in academics. Every decision and action I make is based on benefiting my career in football. Playing at the next level has always been a dream of mine and I take pride in what I do in order to reach that dream. I m truly amazed on how much football has affected my life and I just absolutely love the game and everything that comes with it.