Sunday's game beween the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers at Wimbley Stadium in London, England, by virtue of its setting, is one of the feature games on the 2013 National Football League schedule. It's also more than just another game to Vikings starting right guard Brandon Fusco, a former Slippery Rock University standout, who will be facing his "hometown team."
"Yeah, it will be a little special," Fusco said during an interview last summer with SRU Sports Information Director Bob McComas for a story that will appear in the upcoming edition of The Rock, SRU's quarterly alumni and friends magazine. "I grew up following the Steelers, so playing against them for the first time will be something I will remember for awhile."
"I just wish the game was being played in Pittsburgh," Fusco said. "That way, more of my family and friends would be able to be there for the game."
Kickoff for Sunday's CBS-televised game is set for 1 p.m.
Here is the text of The Rock magazine feature story on Fusco:
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- If this is all just a dream, Brandon Fusco doesn't want to wake up.
A mere two seasons after having had arguably the finest individual season in Slippery Rock University football history, Fusco was on the front line last fall, in a front-row seat, if you will, for one of the top individual efforts in National Football League history.
As the starting right guard for the purple-clad Minnesota Vikings, Fusco played an important role in Adrian Peterson chewing up of the second-largest amount of green turf in league history – 2,097 yards, only eight stripes shy of the NFL record set by Eric Dickerson in 1984.
"Brandon was a big reason Adrian was able to go over 2,000 yards," said Bill Musgrave, Vikings offensive coordinator.
"We take a lot of pride in our run blocking here with Adrian Peterson in the backfield," Musgrave said, "and the right guard position is essential because Adrian is predominantly a right-handed, right-legged runner, so Brandon was at the point of attack on most of (Peterson's) runs."
Blocking for a player with Peterson's talents "makes our job easy," Fusco said, "because he makes the most of every cut and every read possible. You don't have to give him much room to run and break an 80-yard run."
"It's fun watching him run, I mean blocking for him," Fusco said with a chuckle, "because he's a hard worker and deserves all the recognition he gets."
"Yeah, sometimes I caught myself watching him run," Fusco said, "especially when I might have missed a block. I'd look around to see where he was and he was already past us and heading downfield."
Fusco's self-deprecating remarks aside, "Brandon developed a lot in his second year and became an integral part of our offensive line," Musgrave said. "He was able to identify the different defensive looks and seemed to be one step ahead of the defense, able to make the identification of what was on the way after the ball was snapped."
Fusco was appreciative of the high praise he received from his offensive coordinator because, as he put it, "Coaches aren't going to pat you on the back as much in the pros as in high school and college. It's pretty much cut-and-dry. They tell us what we're doing well and not doing so well."
"They're always honest with me," Fusco said, "and I appreciate that because that helps make me a better player."
Fusco was a pretty darned good player when he left The Rock, having earned both the 2010 Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year Award and the Rimington Award as the nation's top NCAA Division II center.
The highest-drafted player in Slippery Rock football history and one of only six Rock players to be selected in an NFL Draft, Fusco is the only Rock player to ever participate in the Senior Bowl all-star game and NFL Combine, both of which are predominantly stocked by Division I players.
Fusco disproved the doubters during those prime-time workouts and ultimately was a sixth-round pick of the Vikings in 2011.
"The competition is not as stiff in Division II as in other conferences in college football," Musgrave said, "but obviously Brandon was trained very well at Slippery Rock. He came to us ready to make the jump to the next level."
Fusco credits The Rock coaching staff for helping him make that jump.
"Coach Mihalik and Coach Walton taught me a lot about being a physical player and the way to become a great player," Fusco said, referring to Rock head coach
George Mihalik and former offensive line coach Joe Walton.
"I came into Slippery Rock as a 240-pound young boy and came out as a 6-foot-4, 315-pound – all muscle, man - living my dream as a pro football player," Fusco said. "I can't thank them enough for what they did to help me get to this point."
If nothing else, Fusco said, The Rock coaches taught him to "believe in your dreams, work hard in the weight room and do the little things that will help make you a better player. There is no simple way to do it."
Fusco saw action in only three games as an NFL rookie in 2011, but as that season wound down, he began to make the move from center to guard.
That transition paid off immensely last fall, when Fusco was in the starting lineup for all 17 Vikings games, including a first-round playoff game at legendary Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers.
"Starting in a playoff game in my first season as a starter and in Green Bay, that was a very special moment," Fusco said. "And winning our last game against the Packers to get into the playoffs was pretty special, too."
"I had some bad games and I had some good games," Fusco said. "I'm just trying to get better as a player as I get more knowledge of the game and know more and more about my opponents."
Fusco's proverbial "welcome-to-the-NFL-moment" came in the first preseason game last fall, when he was matched up against San Francisco 49ers' All-Pro defensive lineman Ray McDonald.
"That really opened my eyes to what I was I was going to see week after week," Fusco said. "I played pretty well in that game, but I knew at that point I had to keep progressing to get better because I was going to see a lot of top-notch defensive ends and tackles."
In the weeks that followed, Fusco faced the likes of JJ Watt (Houston Texans), arguably the top defensive player in the NFL, along with All-Pros Gerald McCoy (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Ndamukong Suh (Detroit Lions) and B.J. Raji (Green Bay Packers).
Fusco said he didn't experience any of the cheap-shot tactics for which Suh has become known.
"It was a pretty clean game," Fusco said of his duel with the man some claim to be one of the 'dirtiest players in the NFL.' "(Suh) likes to chirp and stuff like that, but luckily I wasn't one of the guys that got stomped on or anything along those lines."
Although Fusco admitted "I never thought my first start in the NFL would be as a guard," he's fine with the move he made and doesn't foresee himself returning to the snapper spot.
"A center has a lot of responsibility," Fusco said. "They make the protection calls and who's sliding to block against the different defensive fronts, so having a guy like John Sullivan, an All-Pro, at center makes my job a lot easier."
"I knew it would be tough to beat him out as the starting center," Fusco said. "But there was an open position at right guard and they worked me in there, so I just made my mind up to keep getting better and more comfortable there."
Playing guard was "different at first," Fusco said, "because I was used to having the ball in my hands and making the offensive line blocking calls. As a guard, you're pretty much on an island by yourself in pass protection, so it was quite an adjustment."
"It is a tough adjustment," Musgrave said. "But it's tough to play any of the three inside positions, center and the two guards. There are so many variables and moving parts. The centers and guards in football have to be very sharp and Brandon proved to be just that."
Fusco knows that having played, or at least practiced extensively, in two different roles on the offensive line could ultimately work to his advantage.
"You're not going to last very long in the NFL if you can only play one offensive line position," Fusco said, "so I'd like to get really good at playing guard and maybe play a little at center, too."
Fusco settled into a pretty nice routine during the offseason, "playing golf and learning to fish."
"There are a lot of lakes around here, like one every 100 feet," Fusco said, "and it seems like everyone has a boat, so I'm getting more into that."
"I finished third in a celebrity crappie tournament," Fusco said. "I think I caught something like 15, so I'm definitely getting better as a fisherman."
Fusco said his goal as an NFL player was to, "play 10 or more seasons and eventually become an All-Pro player."
For now, though, he said, "I'm living the dream, so I'm happy."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to Tom West and the Minnesota Vikings public relations staff for their assistance in the compilation of this feature.
