Too thin. No muscle. No playing time. 

This is how senior Michael Darcy’s football career started. It wasn’t until he got to North Penn High School that he decided to become fully invested in the sport. 

“I was switched from wide receiver to tight end and that changed how I played. I became more physical, and when I finally got to experience game day is when my mindset fully changed. After the season, I worked as hard as possible to gain weight and get stronger,” Darcy said. 

This mentality change resulted in an 85-pound weight increase going into his junior year. With this, he also achieved new personal records in every type of lift, something that coaches looks for in their players. Darcy entered junior year heavier, stronger, and hungrier. 

Unfortunately, the injury bug bit him as he lost about half of his season, playing on the Junior Varsity team after recovering. He also played on the scout team during practices, and his hard work and determination paid off here as head coach Dick Beck noticed Darcy’s efforts. 

“Going into the offseason for senior year I put on even more weight and got even stronger. I started both ways as a tight end and defensive tackle. I ended up being selected All-league, All-area, and All-inter-AC,” remarked Darcy. “We only played 5 games, so it feels like we didn’t finish what we started.” 

Senior year is when Darcy started to think about his future in the sport. At first, he had some doubts about football in college, but he kept working day in,  and day out, to achieve his dreams.

On January 24th, Darcy committed to play Division 1 football for the Long Island University Sharks. After months of receiving offers, he viewed the opportunity of a Preferred Walk-On offer as the best one for him, which guarantees he will have a spot on the team.

“This means the world to me. Everything I put into this, for it to work makes me so happy. I commonly ask myself, ‘Would 5 year old me be happy with where I am today?’ I ask this because around that age is when people dream of the best for themselves. The answer to that question right now would definitely be yes,” explained Darcy. 

Darcy gives much credit to fellow senior Andrew Berry, who was his workout partner since they got to North Penn. 

“My teammates made football fun. Especially Andrew Berry. He believed in me and pushed me the whole time. We would work out for 6 hours a day, 6 days a week to get to where I am right now,” remarked Darcy. 

Nothing is complete without family, and Darcy knows that, as he also gives credit to his family for believing in him and never letting him down. 

“They know the turnaround I had, they know how much I’ve been working, how hard it’s been. They are proud of me, and I can’t thank them enough.” 

It has been far from an easy journey. It has been stressful, tiring, frustrating, grueling, and pain-inducing. But Mike Darcy would not have it any other way. He endured all of this pain and hard work– and it lands him a shot to play Division 1 football at LIU.