Syracuse coach Doug Marrone is one of us. Jay Bromley is one of us. Ivan Foy is one of us. Each of the eight other city players on the Orange — one of us.
If they saw a silver spoon growing up it was in someone else’s mouth.
Their grass was concrete, the family car was the subway and they correctly believe Nathan’s is the best damn hot dog on the planet — don’t even try to sell them one of those California, all-natural organic franks; they wouldn’t waste a packet of relish on it.
None of the five-borough fighters on the Syracuse football team got where he is without the sacrifices of his parents and the work ethic those parents instilled in their sons. None of them asked for anything except a chance.
Which is exactly what the Syracuse football team has today against USC — a chance.
It is not a good chance, but it is the chance of a football lifetime.
The Orange play the top-ranked Trojans at MetLife Stadium (3:30, ABC), and no one outside of the Iocolano-Petty Football Complex gives them a chance at an upset.
“They’re the best team on anyone’s schedule,’’ Bromley, a defensive tackle from Flushing, said.
But what if Syracuse does the unthinkable? What if the Orange pull off the college version of the Miracle in the Meadowlands?
Think it can’t happen? Marrone was a starting tackle on the 1984 Syracuse team that upset then No. 1-ranked Nebraska. The line was 25 that day. It’s 26 today.
“When I meet Syracuse people and we talk about the old days and I say I played this year to this year, they stop me and say, ‘Wait, you were on that team? I remember you,’ ’’ Marrone said.
USC is loaded with unforgettable players chasing an unfathomable dream.
Due to NCAA sanctions, they have 75 scholarship players to most teams 85. Forget playing a man down; they’re 10 down.
But they are eyeballing the national championship, because they believe their 75 are better than anyone else’s 85. They could be right.
The Trojans ended last season on a four-game winning streak, averaging 42 points per game, and blew out Hawaii 49-10 last week. Syracuse ended last season on a five-game losing streak and took a gut punch last week in a 42-41 loss to Northwestern.
Marrone said the Orange were disappointed by the loss but not discouraged. The tough-minded kids he has recruited from Inwood and Jamaica and Rosedale and Brooklyn don’t get discouraged by a one-point loss. They don’t see the Trojan horse approaching and worry about what’s inside.
“I don’t know about them, but my team is tough,’’ Foy, a guard from Fort Hamilton, said. “We just say, ‘Let’s go.’ We’re going [into this game] to win. We’ve got a lot of talent on this team. We may not be on ESPN all the time like them, but we’ve got talent, we’ve got heart.’’
No one is saying the Trojans aren’t tough. They won 10 games last season with nothing to play for but pride. But the Orange led USC 3-0 last season and trailed just 10-3 at halftime before suffering a 38-17 loss in Los Angeles, so there is no fear.
It will take a perfect game, perhaps some luck and definitely a toughness that comes from within, but the 2012 Syracuse team can become one for the ages today.
This group of five-borough fighters just might be tough enough to pull off another Miracle in the Meadowlands. Now that would be a memory to relish.