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By Thomas Gerbasi - A lot has gone on in the life of Tommy Zbikowski between his first and second professional fights. In 2006, he was the pride of Notre Dame football and a former amateur boxer making his debut in the big room at Madison Square Garden on the Miguel Cotto vs Paulie Malignaggi undercard.
That first foray into the punch for pay ranks took all of 49 seconds as he blitzed and stopped Robert Bell. He assumed that he would be back in the ring after graduation. But it hasn’t worked out quite that way for the Park Ridge, Illinois native.
“I didn’t think my football career would last this long,” said Zbikowski, currently a safety for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. “I figured I’d play two, three years and see how it would go in the NFL, and then I’d be back to boxing again. I thought it would be right after college to be honest with you. I thought I would just get my college education, play a little college ball, and back to the ring for me, and obviously my career in football has been extended longer than that.”
That’s a good thing. A third round (86th overall) pick of the Ravens, Zbikowski played on special teams his first year, started a few games in his second year, and last season, he started a career-high four games, which would have probably been more had he not been hobbled by back and foot injuries. And he’s not finished yet. [Click Here To Read More]
That first foray into the punch for pay ranks took all of 49 seconds as he blitzed and stopped Robert Bell. He assumed that he would be back in the ring after graduation. But it hasn’t worked out quite that way for the Park Ridge, Illinois native.
“I didn’t think my football career would last this long,” said Zbikowski, currently a safety for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. “I figured I’d play two, three years and see how it would go in the NFL, and then I’d be back to boxing again. I thought it would be right after college to be honest with you. I thought I would just get my college education, play a little college ball, and back to the ring for me, and obviously my career in football has been extended longer than that.”
That’s a good thing. A third round (86th overall) pick of the Ravens, Zbikowski played on special teams his first year, started a few games in his second year, and last season, he started a career-high four games, which would have probably been more had he not been hobbled by back and foot injuries. And he’s not finished yet. [Click Here To Read More]
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