Jon Volpe is a former

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

Early life

Volpe had a difficult childhood. His father left when he was 5 years old, his mother was an alcoholic and lived on the street, and his brother went to jail several times. Jon Volpe, being only 5 feet 7 inches tall, received a football scholarship to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where he was an all-conference running back (leading in rushing yards), earning GTE Academic All-American honors and being named a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

nominee (while getting a BSc in engineering.)

Professional career

He was not drafted by the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

. However, he had a tryout with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

before he headed to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to play for the

B.C. Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

. He had a successful rookie season in 1991; rushing behind

Doug Flutie Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...

(who threw for a record 6,619 yards), Volpe added 1,395 rushing yards and led the league with 16 rushing touchdowns and 20 total touchdowns. Volpe was named an All-Star and won the

CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division, and th ...

. In 1992, he added 941 yards and 13 touchdowns, and was again named an All-Star. A contract dispute meant a late start to the 1993 season and he had a generally unsuccessful season, appearing in only five games. He left the Lions after three years and 36 games. Volpe moved to the expansion

Las Vegas Posse The Las Vegas Posse were a Canadian Football League (CFL) team, that played at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, in the league's 1994 season as part of the CFL's short-lived American expansion. Lasting only one seaso ...

in 1994, rushing 43 times for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns in four games. He signed with the

in 1995, but a preseason shoulder injury ended his career.

Private life

Volpe is chairman and CEO of

Nova Home Loans A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...

. He is married to Heather and has a daughter, Kaylie, and a son, Trevor.

Footnotes

References

Jon Volpe in the Tucson Weekly, Feb. 5, 2004
*''B.C. Lions Media Guide'' BC Lions players Las Vegas Posse players Stanford Cardinal football players 1968 births Living people Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners People from Chippewa County, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football running backs Canadian football running backs American players of Canadian football {{Canadianfootball-runningback-stub