Football

Additional Link
"A Star Quarterback Who Never Demanded the Attention" - written by Michelle Seaton from WBUR - 99.9 FM, who covered the reinstatement of the Saint Anselm Football Team.

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Saint Anselm College mourns the loss of Marine Captain Kyle Van De Giesen '02 who was killed Monday while serving his country in Afghanistan.

"The passing of any member of the Saint Anselm College community causes us pain. But the loss of an alumnus so young and who sacrificed his life in the service of our country is profoundly sorrowful," said Father Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B., president of Saint Anselm College. See here for his full statement.

A criminal justice major, Kyle was the starting quarterback on the Hawks first varsity football team in 1999, when Saint Anselm College restored the sport after a 58-year hiatus.  A moment of silence will be observed in his memory at the home game on Saturday, October 31 against New Haven. In addition, a red, white and blue ribbon with his number 12 below it will be painted onto the Grappone Stadium field for the remainder of the season. In addition, the Hawks will be wearing Kyle's initials, KV, on their helmets for the remainder of the 2009 season. Kyle's high school football team in North Attleboro, Mass. is also wearing his initials on their helmets starting this weekend.

He left the team after that first season to concentrate on his studies and fulfill his dream of becoming a Marine pilot, which he achieved.

Geoff Raby '02, a former Hawks linebacker, said that while he mourned the loss of his friend and former teammate. "I know nothing he would have rather been doing."

Kyle is remembered as a standout student and athlete. As quarterback, he started eight of the team's nine games in 1999. He finished the season 103-for-226 passing for 10 touchdowns, piling up 1,366 passing yards. In his first game for the Hawks, Van De Giesen piled up 308 passing yards and 319 yards of total offense in a win over UMass Lowell at a sold-out Grappone Stadium, marks that still rank him among the all-time leaders in school history. For his performance that day, he was honored as the EFC Offensive Player of the Week. He finished the year with 1,463 yards of total offense, including an 84-yard completion vs. Pace on Oct. 9, 1999, the second-longest passing play in Saint Anselm history.

Peter Cordella, criminal justice professor and chair, was Kyle's academic advisor and remembers him as a strong student.  "He was very organized, very responsible, a very upstanding guy," he said. "He was a leader both on and off the field."

Kyle was stationed in Camp Pendleton, in San Diego, Calif., where his wife, Megan, is expecting their second child, a son. The couple also has a young daughter.

Raby, a fellow criminal justice major and now a police officer in Nashua, N.H., said Van De Giesen was "an unbelievable athlete, and a dedicated and great teammate. He was always level headed, the voice of reason."

The two grew up in neighboring Massachusetts towns, Raby in Attleboro and Van De Giesen in North Attleboro. They played on rival high school football teams and became friends in their junior year, before both were recruited to play for Saint Anselm.

The last time the two saw each other was last November, when Raby was inducted into his area's high school Hall of Fame. Van De Giesen could not attend his own induction in 2007, so they held a special ceremony for him and the two former rivals, former teammates and former fellow students were inducted on the same evening.

In addition to Raby, two of Kyle's former roommates, Tim Karalexis '02 and Chris Bagley '02, both former men's soccer players at Saint Anselm, reflected back on their friend.

"Kyle was a great guy as well as friend," said Karalexis. "I was fortunate to have roomed with him for a year. I cherish all the good times we had while at St. A's. He is a true American hero who will surely be missed. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Kyle, I'm glad I know you."

"Kyle was a great friend and roommate at St. A's," said Bagley. "We shared so many great memories together during our time and stayed close after graduation. Kyle was athletic, smart, dedicated, loyal,....I could go on and on telling you how great of a guy Kyle was and it would still be an understatement. I am just blessed to have been able to have Kyle as such a close friend and I truly am a better person for that."

Ed Cannon, the Saint Anselm Director of Athletics while Kyle was a student-athlete, remembered a passionate student-athlete who always longed to serve his country.

"Right from the beginning, with the start-up of football after 50 years, Kyle Van DeGiesen became the leader of our program as quarterback of that first team in 1999," said Cannon. "He was a fine athlete and a person of great character, but more significantly a remarkable young man whose love for football was overshadowed by his sincere and determined commitment to serve in the military. As one of his teammates put it, ‘Kyle was born to be a Marine'. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Van De Giesen family."

(If anyone would like to contribute a quote or a memory of Kyle, please email that to Ken Johnson, Jr., Director of Sports Information, at kejohnson@anselm.edu)