<p>“[Jonathan] Esposito To Play in Governors Cup Before Heading to Ivy League” (Connecticut)</p>
<p>[Conard’s</a> Jonathan Esposito To Play In Governors Cup Football Game Before Heading To Princeton - Courant.com](<a href=“s – Hartford Courant”>http://www.courant.com/sports/high-school-football/hc-governors-cup-0625-20110624,0,7859564.story) </p>
<p>Like many successful high school football players, Conard-West Hartford running back Jonathan Esposito had dreams of playing at the highest level of college football. That all changed the day he got a phone call from the coaching staff at Princeton.</p>
<p>“At first I was like, ‘Oh, that’s kind of cool.’” Esposito said. “My parents have always stressed the importance of academics, but it wasn’t until I actually came in contact with Ivy League schools that I really understood the importance. Right after I got a voice mail from the Princeton coach, my parents said, ‘If you can get into an Ivy League school, you’re going to an Ivy League school.’”</p>
<p>Saturday, less than a month before heading to Princeton, N.J., to begin college, Esposito plays his final game as a high school football player. Esposito is one of three running backs on the state roster for the 13th Governors Cup game, which pits Connecticut’s best high school seniors against an All-Star team from Rhode Island. The game is at 4:30 p.m. at Fontana Field at Southington High School. . . .</p>
<p>Esposito was contacted by the Princeton coaching staff after his junior year. Calls then came from Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth. That changed the game for Esposito, who had been participating in summer camps at UConnand was being lightly courted by former UConn coach Randy Edsall and coaches from Boston College.</p>
<p>“Up to that point I had visions of playing big time I-A football,” Esposito said. “I always envisioned that. But once Princeton contacted me, and a bunch of other Ivy League schools, after talking to my family and friends, they really stressed what it could mean to me to get an Ivy League education. … At first I was like, ‘But what if I get an offer from a big time school? What if I can play here? What if I can play there?’ But then after actually going and seeing the players and watching them practice, I realized the Ivy League is intensely tremendous football. If there was a way I made it to the NFL someday, and my football career ended, having an academic background from an Ivy League school like Princeton, you’re set. If you’re good enough, they’ll find you wherever you are, but having that academic background is really what’s so important.” . . . (continued)</p>