Sav Rocca facts for kids
Rocca as an assistant coach for Carlton in 2018
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Saverio Giovanni Rocca | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 20 November 1973 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
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| Height | 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 263 lb (119 kg; 18 st 11 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Football career |
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| Position: | Punter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Saverio Giovanni Rocca (born 20 November 1973) is an Australian former professional athlete. He is famous for playing two different sports at the highest level. First, he played Australian rules football for the Collingwood Magpies and the Kangaroos in the Australian Football League (AFL). After that, he switched to American football and became a punter for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins in the National Football League (NFL) in the United States.
Sav Rocca was born in Melbourne, Australia. He played 257 AFL games from 1992 to 2006. He was a powerful forward player, kicking 748 goals in his career. This places him among the top goal-scorers in AFL history. Rocca was the top goal-kicker for his team ten times. In 1995, he won the Copeland Trophy, which is Collingwood's award for their best and fairest player.
Rocca was known for his amazing ability to kick the ball very long distances. He decided to retire from Australian rules football at age 32 to try a career in the NFL. When he joined the Philadelphia Eagles in 2007, he became the oldest rookie in NFL history! After playing for the Eagles for four seasons, Rocca moved to the Washington Redskins in 2011. He played there for three more seasons until 2014. After his NFL career, he returned to Australia. He worked as a kicking and ruck coach for the Carlton Football Club from 2015 to 2020.
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Early Life and Family
Sav Rocca was born in Melbourne, Australia. His parents were from Italy. When he was 12, he kicked a football further than anyone else his age at the Reservoir football oval. This showed his natural talent for kicking.
He first started in athletics, where he was a junior champion. He was good at shot put and discus throwing. But Rocca decided to focus on Australian rules football. He played for the Reservoir-Lakeside Football Club. His skill at kicking goals quickly became clear.
Sav's brother, Anthony Rocca, also became a professional Australian rules footballer. For a short time, both brothers played for Collingwood. They even played together in the forward positions.
AFL Career Highlights
Playing for Collingwood
Rocca joined the Collingwood Magpies in 1991. He was a strong full-forward with a very powerful kick. He quickly became a key player for the Magpies. In 1993, he kicked 73 goals, including two games where he scored ten goals each! In 1994, he kicked 49 goals.
In 1995, Rocca had his best season, scoring 93 goals in 21 games. He almost reached 100 goals! He played what he later called his best game in the first-ever Anzac Day match between Collingwood and Essendon. He kicked nine goals in that game, which ended in a draw. He was later given an Anzac Medal for being the best player on the field. That same year, he won Collingwood's Copeland Trophy for being their best player. He continued to be a strong forward, kicking 66, 76, and 68 goals in the next three seasons. In 1997, he was the second-highest goal-scorer in the league.
However, his performance dropped a bit in the next two seasons. He kicked 60 goals in total. Even though he won his seventh straight award for being the leading goal-kicker for Collingwood in 1999 (with 33 goals), he was let go by the club. He had played over 150 games and kicked over 500 goals for Collingwood.
Moving to the Kangaroos
After leaving Collingwood, Rocca was chosen by the North Melbourne Football Club (then called the Kangaroos) in the 2000 AFL draft. In his first two seasons with the Kangaroos, he kicked 98 goals. This made him the Kangaroos' leading goal-kicker in both years.
His form changed over the years, but he was still an important player. In 2005, he kicked his 700th career goal. In early 2006, he played his 250th game. During the 2006 season, Rocca played some games in the Victorian Football League for North Ballarat, which was the Kangaroos' reserve team. At 32 years old, it seemed like Rocca might retire from the AFL.
But he had other plans! He started training to become an American football punter. He even made a video at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne to show his amazing kicking power to talent scouts. Rocca stayed with the Kangaroos long enough to play 100 games for them. This was important because it meant his sons could potentially play for the Kangaroos under the father–son rule in the future. Rocca played his last AFL game in Round 22 against his old club, Collingwood. He kicked three goals in that farewell game.
NFL Career: A New Challenge
Rocca quickly left for the United States to try out as a gridiron punter with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Playing for the Philadelphia Eagles
Rocca had tried out for another NFL team, the Buffalo Bills, in 2006 but didn't get picked. The Philadelphia Eagles were looking for a new punter and signed Rocca for their training camp in 2007. During the Eagles' preseason games, Rocca showed off his powerful leg. He had several punts that went over 50 yards, and one even went over 65 yards! Rocca won the punter job and became the oldest rookie in NFL history at 33 years old.
In his first NFL season in 2007, Rocca had 73 punts, averaging 42 yards per punt.
Success in 2008
Rocca was named the NFL Special Teams Player of the Month for September 2008. He led the league with a great punting average and had seven punts land inside the opponent's 20-yard line. In the 2008 season, he played in all 16 regular season games. He had 77 punts, averaging 43.3 yards each.
Later Seasons with Eagles
In the 2009 season, Rocca played in all 16 games. He had 76 punts, averaging 42.39 yards. In 2010, he signed another one-year contract with the Eagles. He played in all 16 games again, with 73 punts averaging 43.77 yards.
Playing for the Washington Redskins
Rocca signed with the Washington Redskins on 29 July 2011. He was seen as one of the best new players the Redskins signed that year. He greatly improved their punting game. In one game in 2011, Rocca even made an impressive tackle on an opposing player who was trying to return a punt! He played in all 16 regular season games, with 66 punts averaging 43.06 yards.
Playing Through Injury
In 2012, it was reported that Rocca had been playing with a torn meniscus (a knee injury) in his kicking leg. Despite the injury, the Redskins continued to use him. He played in all 16 regular season games, with 68 punts averaging 43.88 yards.
Final NFL Season
Rocca signed a new two-year contract with the Redskins in March 2013. He played in all 16 regular season games that year, with 84 punts averaging 41.98 yards. Rocca was released by the Redskins on 4 March 2014, ending his NFL career.
Return to Australian Football
In April 2015, Rocca returned to Australia. He was hired to work part-time at the Carlton Football Club. His job was to mentor forward players, helping them with their kicking skills.
In December 2016, it was announced that Rocca would join Carlton as their full-time kicking coach for the 2017 AFL season. Carlton's head of football, Andrew McKay, said they were happy to have Rocca. He mentioned that Rocca had a lot of knowledge about kicking techniques and could teach players very well.
Rocca left Carlton in March 2020. This happened when AFL clubs had to reduce their staff because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
Images for kids
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Rocca playing for the Kangaroos in 2004
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