Vincent Papale is a former American football player; he started his career very early and achieved great results. His career is full of excitement, along with his team Vince has won numerous awards. Vincent grew up in very harsh conditions, but with his efforts and work he succeeded in realizing his dreams and making great success in his career.
During his career, Vincent played in very successful clubs, and he remained famous for his game at Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia Bell.
Vince played for the national team and showed excellent results. Vince has a very inspiring life story, and with his work he proved that everything is possible if you believe in yourself and your dreams.
In 2006, the movie ‘Invincible’ was filmed, this film is inspired by the life of Vincent Papale.
In addition to sports, Vince had another love, which was music. Vince played the guitar and wrote songs in his spare time. As a teenager he had performances at a local coffee bar where he received his first critics.
In addition, many friends advised him to start his career as a musician and to devote himself to this work. Vince never wanted to give up on football and he said that football was his greatest love and the only hope for a better life.
When in 2005 he got an opportunity to tell a story about his life, Vince accepted this offer, but he never expected the great success of the film. He said that many of his friends who achieved greater success wrote their biography, but he did not want to talk about himself, he was interested in the opinion of other people who followed his work.
After broadcasting the film, Vince and his career were revived, and his life story became an inspiration for young people. In the last few years, Vince has been a guest at many popular shows where he talked about his life and career.
We decided to dedicate this article to a man who proved that it does not matter if you are rich or poor, what nationality or religion you are, it is only important that you believe in yourself and your dreams.
If you want to succeed, you have to know that your journey will be difficult, that you will have to do a lot of work, develop yourself, and that you cannot give up, but if you listen to these tips then you will achieve your goals and success.
In this text, we will share the inspiring life story of Vince Papale, we will talk about his childhood, family, financial problems, we will talk about his career as well as about private life.
Early life
Vince was born in Glenolden, his parents met very early and decided to get married when they were 19. His mother was the final year of high school when she got pregnant, many of her friends advised her to abort baby, but she did not want to do that. To avoid a bigger scandal, his parents decided to marry, but their marriage was not happy. They were practically children when they were married and did not understand how difficult it was to have a baby in that period. His parents did not have the support of friends and family; they remained alone and had to raise their child.
It was a very difficult time for them, they did not have a job, they were not educated, and beside that they had to take care of the baby. His mother tried several times to contact her family and explain her difficult situation. Her parents were very disappointed and did not want to get in touch with the daughter until Vince was 3 years old.
His mother suffered violence from his father for several years. His father beat her, she was even in hospital several times, but she could not look for help from her family. His mother once suffered such injuries that she was in a coma for 10 days, after this case the doctor informed her parents, who then took care of Vince. Shortly after this event, his parents divorced and Vince began life with his mother and her parents.
Because of her parents’ initiative, Vince’s mother decided to enroll at the University, after which she got a job at a local firm where she worked for several years. However, after several years, her parents experienced traffic accidents and died, it was a major turning point in her life. Shortly thereafter, she was fired and she never found a better job after that.
When Vince started his primary school, his mother did not have enough money to buy him books for school; this period was marked by a number of financial problems for his mother and him.
When Vince was the first year of high school, his mother married and began to live with her husband, Vince lived with her mother, but only a few years. He claimed that his stepfather beat him and that he did not feel safe in his house. Their marriage ended after one year, after this his mother never married or had a serious relationship. She devoted her life to a son, she was his support in all life’s moments, and she encouraged him and always believed in him.
Vince started his career with a good game in high school. Vince has achieved very good results in basketball and athletics. Although the coach advised him to continue his basketball career, Vince was more interested in athletics and his skills were perfect for football. Vince was a triple jumper, and a long jumper. As a long jumper he won the first place in the state competition.
Vince was convinced that he would continue his career as an athlete, and began his education at Philadelphia’s Saint Joseph’s University, where he received a scholarship. During his studies, Vince won numerous awards; he won several gold medals in long jump. Beside this Vince has several times participated in national competitions, and has become a long jump champion and a 100-meter sprint champion.
When he started his career in football, Vince played for two teams: Philadelphia Bell and Philadelphia Eagles. Vince began his career in football at age 30, becoming the oldest newcomer to the history of the NFL. During the season, Vince played 41 matches, and he had quite good results. Vince was named ‘The Man of the Year’ by Philadelphia Eagles. He ended his career in 1978 for severe shoulder injury.
After injury, Vince wanted to continue his career in football, so he was given the chance to be the captain of special teams for charity activities. Vince had many nicknames through his career, but his most popular nickname is ‘Rocky’.
This nickname was given to him by the popular ‘Rocky’ movie starring Sylvester Stallone. After finishing his career, Vince worked for several years as a sports reporter, after which he started working at the bank.
Personal life
2010 was a very difficult year for Vince, that year he had numerous health problems, at the end of the year he discovered that he had colorectal cancer. Many doctors did not believe that Vince would succeed in getting rid of this serious illness, but Vince managed to recover a year after that.
After this situation, Vince began to work on encouraging people, participated in numerous shows and advised people to take care of their health. Vince is married, has two children and currently lives in New York.
A special moment in his life, was the film ‘Invincible’, Vince also participated in the filming of this movie where he talked about his life and career. For many people, Vince proved that years are not an obstacle if you want to make your dreams come true. The film was carrying a message that you need to believe in yourself and in your dreams, if you want to achieve success then you need to be persistent, work hard and never give up.
Vince continues to visit football matches, and two years ago he appeared on a commercial that was broadcast in the half-time of Super Bowl. Vince appeared in a commercial for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, it is interesting that commercial which last one minute in Super Bowl is worth $ 2 million.
Quick Summary
Full name: Vincent Papale
Date of birth: February 9, 1946
Birthplace: Glenolden, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Age: 73
Profession: American football player and athlete
Height: 187 cm
Weight: 86 kg
Net Worth: $ 7 million
