Sav Rocca

This was a 10 kg roll of salami that was cured every year and had been passed down as a tradition since the 1600s.

Saverio Giovanni Rocca (born 20 November 1973) is an Australian former professional sportsman.

He played Australian rules football for Collingwood and the Kangaroos in the Australian Football League (AFL), and then switched to playing American football as a punter for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins in the National Football League (NFL).

Rocca was born in Melbourne.

Rocca joined Collingwood in 1991, the last year that allowed zoned players to avoid the draft process.

From 1992 to 2006, he played 257 AFL games as a full forward or centre half-forward, kicking 748 goals.

He ranks fourteenth on the all-time goalscoring list.

He was a strong full-forward with a huge kick, showing true signs as a key player to the Magpies in his debut season of 1992.

In 1993, he quickly got the attention from the crowds, kicking 73 goals including two hauls of ten goals in a matter of three weeks.

In 1994, he kicked 49 goals.

A huge kick, he could kick the ball dead straight over 60 metres.

Rocca was his team's leading goalkicker on ten occasions (seven for Collingwood and three for the Kangaroos), and in 1995 won the Copeland Trophy as Collingwood's best and fairest player.

Only two players (Matthew Richardson and Kevin Bartlett) have scored more goals in their career without winning a Coleman Medal (i.e., scoring the most goals in a particular season).

Known for his ability to kick long distances, Rocca retired from Australian football at the age of 32 to pursue a career in the NFL.

In 1995, he had his best season, almost getting 100 goals, falling short with 93 in 21 games.

He played what he later considered the best game of his career in the inaugural Anzac Day match between Collingwood and, kicking nine goals; he was later retrospectively awarded an Anzac Medal for his best on ground performance, the match ended in a draw.

He won the Collingwood best and fairest award that year.

He continued to show he was a strong full-forward and always at the top in what seemed a disappointing side when it came to the ladder, he kicked bags of 66, 76 and 68 in the next three seasons.

He placed second for the Coleman Medal for 1997 behind Tony Modra.

His form however slipped, kicking only 60 goals in the next two seasons.

Despite winning his 7th consecutive leading goalkicker award in 1999 with only 33 goals, he was delisted after more than 150 games and over 500 goals for the club.

After being delisted by Collingwood, Rocca was drafted to the North Melbourne Football Club (known at the time as simply the Kangaroos) with the 30th selection in the 2000 AFL draft.

He kicked 98 goals in his first two seasons, enough to be the Roos' leading goalkicker in each year.

His form once again slipped over the years but he was still a key member when needed, kicking his 700th goal in 2005 and playing his 250th game in early 2006.

During the 2006 season, Rocca was dropped to the Victorian Football League, playing games with North Ballarat, the Kangaroos' reserve team affiliate.

At 32 and under contract until the end of the season, Rocca seemed close to retirement from the AFL.

In preparation for a continued professional sporting career, he began training as an American football punter, appearing in a video shot at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne showing his significant kicking range to talent scouts.

Rocca remained at the Kangaroos to reach the 100-game milestone so that the father–son rule applies for his sons.

Rocca played his farewell game in the Round 22 match against his old club ; he kicked three goals.

Wasting no time, he left for the United States on a trial as a gridiron punter with the Philadelphia Eagles the following week.

When he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2007, he became the oldest rookie in the history of the NFL (breaking the record set by another Australian, Ben Graham).

After four seasons with the Eagles, Rocca joined the Washington Redskins in 2011, where he played three seasons through 2014.

He then returned to Australia after the end of his NFL career, and worked as a kicking and ruck coach for the Carlton Football Club from 2015 to 2020.

Rocca was born in Melbourne to Italian parents.

At age 12, Rocca recorded the longest kick by anyone of his age at the Reservoir football oval.

He began his Sporting Life in athletics, coached by George Bertolacci, and was a junior champion in shot put and also the discus.

Rocca decided to focus on Australian rules and after several seasons playing for Reservoir-Lakeside Football Club in the Diamond Valley Football League, his goalkicking talent became obvious.

His brother is Anthony Rocca, who also played professional football.

For a brief time in their careers, they both played for, combining at centre half and full-forward.

Every summer in Preston, Victoria from ages 3 to 15, Sav and his brothers would make the city-famous 'Big Sav' with their father.