Naperville native walking away from football again
Nick Cosentino walked away from football once before.
More than 20 years later, he's prepared to do so again.
A 41-year-old playing for the Continental Indoor Football League's Chicago Slaughter, Cosentino stands like so many other gridiron grinders wanting to keep competing until their bodies say otherwise.
It's time to step away, Cosentino believes, after quite a ride over the last eight years.
"I love it, I'll miss it...I don't know what I'll replace it with," the Glenbard North graduate said. "But I've never been so sore. Regardless of what happens this season, this is it."
Many Slaughter players face similar decisions.
Chris Nendick, a 2004 Naperville Central graduate who kicked at Northern Illinois University, is trying to hone his skills in the CIFL with hopes of hooking on with a National Football League team.
Nendick recently attended a free-agent camp in Las Vegas and plans to kick at another free-agent camp next year.
"I've been trying to get to the NFL and any chance I get to compete, I'll take," he said. "It's fun right now with the Slaughter. I'm not ready to give this up. I don't want to look back later in life and wonder what might have happened."
Slaughter teammate Lenny Radtke feels the same way. The 2002 graduate of Glenbard North and 2006 North Central College grad knows how small of a window he's in right now.
The 24-year-old linebacker still feels the thrill of playing.
"I'm not trying to make it big, I just want to keep playing while I can," he said. "I know I won't be the next middle linebacker for the Bears, but I'm still enjoying myself."
Radtke is a substitute teacher aiming to earn his teaching certification. Nendick, 23, graduated with a degree in corporate communications but is holding off actively seeking a job until his playing situation is settled.
Cosentino comes from much different circumstances.
A starting quarterback at Glenbard North who graduated in 1986, he played part of a season at College of DuPage before a personal situation forced him to quit.
Cosentino moved on to a life without football and now owns a coin-operated machine business. He has two teenage daughters attending Bartlett High School.
A chance meeting in 2001 with Arney Silvestri led to Cosentino playing for the Kane County Eagles semipro team - a return to the game after a 15-year absence.
Cosentino has since played at many levels of indoor football, including practice-squad stints with the Chicago Rush. He thought he might be done with football until he was invited to a Slaughter practice before this season. Familiar with many people associated with the team - including Silvestri, the president of football operations - Cosentino committed to one last season as a lineman and running back.
"I thought I was done," he said. "They sucked me back in, and I'm glad they did."
The Slaughter, 7-0 and dominating, is equally glad.
Cosentino's retirement will end his playing career, but he'll keep a competitive foot in the door as he enters his fourth year as Glenbard North's defensive line coach.
Moving on isn't easy, and nothing may replace playing, but the memories will remain.
"It's the here and now, and that's what I'm focused on," Cosentino said. "I'll give it everything I have until the end of the season, and then I'll walk away."