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Overcoming the odds MetroStars Ramos earns degree -- 12 years later
In a day and age when players drop out of school early to pursue a professional sports career or don't even come close to graduating when their four years are over, MetroStars midfielder Tab Ramos has pulled off a rarity. He graduated from college -- 12 years after he left North Carolina State. In December, 34-year-old Ramos, arguably the best player this country has ever produced, received his degree in foreign languages and literature from N.C. State. While soccer has been good to Ramos financially and while he probably will pursue a career in the sport after he retires, the former World Cup star knew he had to finish what he started for himself and his children. "It will make it so much easier for me to show them I completed my studies," Ramos said. "I don't feel it's a huge accomplishment but a weight off my shoulders. A lot of guys go back. Grant Hill and Jerry Stackhouse have." But to other people it was a huge accomplishment. "The greatest accomplishment Tab did as far as I'm concerned was that he never lost track of his degree," said N.C. State coach George Tarantini. "In this country you need an education. He promised me a long time ago, 'Coach don't worry. I'll graduate.' He did."
"I am enormously proud of him because he did it against overwhelming odds," said Dr. Cathy Crossland, Ramos's academic advisor. "He worked at it when he was out of the country. At an age when you have so many responsibilities Tab stuck it out to the end. . . . In the end, he did what it's about -- getting his education. "Other people can look at him and say, 'If he can do it, I can do it.' " Ramos attended St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J. a high school that is well known for turning out outstanding high school soccer players. U.S. National Team midfielder Claudio Reyna, who plays for Rangers in Scotland, starred there. Ramos once told Dr. Crossland a story about when he returned to the school after he became a National Team player. "There was a priest who meant a lot to him," she said. "He noticed that his picture wasn't on the wall. 'How come my picture isn't on the wall,' Tab asked. 'I only put pictures of students who graduate from college,' the priest replied." Ramos left N.C. State in 1988 to play in the Olympics, before returning in 1989. He then joined the U.S. National Team and with the New Jersey Eagles in the old American Professional Soccer League (now A-League). He left with 20 credits shy of a degree -- that's seven courses. He promised himself that some day he would finish what he started. It wasn't until 1995 that he began to pursue that goal, when Dr. Crossland contacted him. She had gotten to know Tarantini by working with soccer players who had learning disabilities. "Initially, it was hard for me to get in that mode to get it done," Ramos said. "He (Tarantini) told me it was important to me and my parents to get it done. . . . Dr. Crossland was great, too. She sent me the books I needed to read." According to N.C. State regulations, the last 18 hours of a students degree must be taken at the school. But Dr. Crossland asked officials to make an exception for Ramos, who was a world traveler back in 1995. "The university was good to me," Ramos said. So, he took courses while he played for Tigres in Mexico and while on the road with the U.S. National Team. "Our jobs allow it on the road," Ramos said. "We have a lot of free time." Slowly, but surely Ramos took the courses and passed. Most of the ones he made up were in math and finance. There was something symmetrical about Ramos's educational pursuit. Ironically, he finished a couple of weeks before the U.S. defeated Barbados to reach the final round of World Cup qualifying, which also happened to be his final international match. His final exam was a math proficiency exam. "We never have had a student come back and not enrolled in the course and pass it," Dr. Crossland said. Ramos, a C student, aced it. "It is difficult studying on your own. You don't have anyone to ask questions," Dr. Crossland said. Added Ramos, "I was at the point that if I had one more course I don't know if I could have taken it." As it turns out, it was an education for Ramos and Dr. Crossland. When she started aiding athletes at N.C. State a decade ago, Dr. Crossland admitted she didn't know a thing about soccer. Today, she can tell you a thing or two about the World Cup, U.S. National Team, Major League Soccer, Ramos's career, recent graduate Pablo Mastroeni, a midfielder who now plies his trade with the Miami Fusion. Mastroeni took a similar path as Ramos, achieving his degree after four years, although he didn't wait as long to finish up. Not surprisingly, Dr. Crossland played a role in that. "He said he wasn't coming back (to school)," she said. "That was in May, 1998. I told him, 'I can get you out of here by December if you go to summer school in Arizona (where he lived)." Mastroeni completed 15 hours of courses in the summer and an incredible 24 in the fall semester to earn his degree, much to the pride of his family. "I'll never forget the day he graduated," Dr. Crossland said. "His father Frank said, 'I've only had a tie on twice in my life -- the day I got married and the day my son graduated from college.' " Ramos decided not to attend his graduation in Raleigh, N.C., in December. "I'm 34," he said. "I can't graduate with 20-year-olds." But it would have been some sight. Imagine someone who already has made an impact on the world, a three-time World Cup player receiving his degree, with students ready to change the world. In school yearbooks, they like to talk about students who are most likely to succeed. Tab Ramos already has done that on two accounts. Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News. He was recently honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in the college division of its writing contest for Life is Beautiful, a column on University of San Francisco coach Steve Negoesco.
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