FORT COLLINS — In 1986, Southern California nose tackle Tony Colorito was a fifth-round Broncos draft choice who likely would have gone higher had he not been limited in his senior season by an ankle injury. A renaissance man who journeyed from his native Brooklyn to Los Angeles for college, he played saxophone and piano, was a biology major and made various All-Academic teams.
After playing in 15 games as a backup for the Super Bowl XXI team that lost to the New York Giants in Pasadena, Calif., Colorito was expected to challenge for a starting spot in 1987, but suffered a season-ending knee injury in an exhibition game against the Los Angeles Rams in London. He was released the next year and eventually channeled his energies to Columbia University’s medical school and now, 30 years after his rookie NFL season, is a prominent orthopedic surgeon in Portland.
“He kind of took his own road,” Tony’s son, Colorado State linebacker Evan Colorito, said this week.
Evan Colorito will be one of the Rams’ game captains for the Border War against Wyoming Saturday night at Hughes Stadium. A junior, he bided his time through a red-shirt year and two seasons as a reserve before taking over the defensive end/buck linebacker spot this season. He’s fourth on the team in tackles, with 23, behind senior linebacker Kevin Davis (41), sophomore linebacker Josh Watson (31) and junior safety Jake Schlager (29).
“It’s been hard, but I expected that — it’s college football,” Colorito said. “Nothing comes easy. I’ve been trying to work as hard as I can every single year, every single day, and I think that now’s my time and I just want to get better and better.”
He said of his role Saturday night: “I haven’t been a captain since high school. The feeling of being a captain is really nice because it means that I’ve shown to the coaches that I’m able to play and be a leader on and off the field. It shows a certain respect they have for me as a player and a person and I just love the opportunity to be able to walk out on the field for the coin toss for my team.”
With a green secondary, the CSU defense has struggled at times, especially on third downs. Opponents have rung up 110 points and averaged 410 yards of total offense. But CSU coach Mike Bobo said Colorito has answered the challenge of stepping into a new position.
“I’ve been real pleased with Evan,” Bobo said. “He plays a lot of snaps and he plays hard every snap. He plays the right technique almost 100 percent of the time. He plays with tremendous effort. We just have to get a little more production out of him, but as far as effort and technique and doing the right thing, he’s playing extremely well.”
Colorito came to CSU from Beaverton High School in the Portland suburb best known as Nike’s headquarters. For the Beaverton Beavers (what else could they be called?), he was an all-state choice and was the powerful Metro League’s defensive player of the year.
“Back with the old (Jim McElwain) staff, they recruited me really hard and I came here for a visit and my dad and I fell in love with the place,” Colorito said. “The coaching staff, the facilities, the town, it’s hard not to love Fort Collins. This is where I wanted to be. Whether it happened in my first year, my fourth year or my fifth year, I knew I would end up making my place here. I’m enjoying it.”
Despite his father’s injury issues and also the modern concerns about the long-term effects of football, Colorito said he never had misgivings about playing the sport.
“I knew when i was little, I wanted to play football,” Colorito said. “I tried to play it when I was too young — second grade — and they wouldn’t let me. By my dad coached me from the third grade all the way through the eighth grade. He was nothing but supportive.”
