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Qualified Quarshie
by Eddy Lentz
Columbia's Michael Quarshie has taken an unorthodox road to New York City. It began in his homeland of Finland, when he picked up a little known game called football. The game has taken him from Finland, to St. Peters College, to Columbia, where he'll captain the Lions in 2004. |
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Football in the New York City area has an unmatched history. Heroes like Columbia’s Sid Luckman and Fordham’s Vince Lombardi revolutionized the game. But in the early 1990s, over four thousand miles from New York, Columbia senior defensive lineman Michael Quarshie got his start playing a form of the game that was far from the smash mouth, high impact style Americans are accustomed to - flag football.
“At that time in Finland there was no youth football, and all kids under 15 had to play flag football,” Quarshie said. “You couldn’t tackle anyone, and you learned some bad techniques, so I took a break for a while and just lifted weights until I could play real football.”
The young student had a difficult time fitting into more traditional Finnish sports in the interim, but soon learned that his place on the defensive line was a better match.
“I played football because basically I wasn’t too good at anything else,” Quarshie said with a laugh. “I knew I was good at lifting weights, and after seeing a football exhibition game on TV, I decided I wanted to give it a try. I said, ‘If I can’t kick a ball or use a puck and a stick, I may as well hit people.’”
When his time came to hit the fields again, Quarshie took to “real” football like a natural. After starting with the TAFT club team, he switched to the Helsinki Roosters, where he continued playing during six months of service in the Finnish military. Quarshie captained the Roosters' junior squad during this time and played an integral role in the team's Eurobowl semifinals appearances in 1997 and 1999 and a first place finish in 2000.
The start of the traditionally American sport in Finland was encouraged by Finnish exchange students after watching and playing football in the United States. The Finnish League was created in 1979, yet there is still no professional organization in Finland. Luckily for younger players, a youth league was implemented to help them learn the game as kids. However, older athletes are still limited to playing for club teams.
Looking for more challenges on the gridiron and inspired by Finnish football legend, Sami Porkka, Quarshie made the trek from Helsinki, Finland, to the United States four years ago and entered St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, N.J.
Porkka, the first Finnish athlete to receive a full athletic scholarship in the U.S. (Northern Colorado), advised Quarshie on ways to develop athletically and gave him ideas on what he needed to do to get noticed professionally. With the help of Porkka, Quarshie eventually made a video tape to send out to coaches.
“Sami told me what coaches were looking for, and I modeled my training toward what he told me was important,” Quarshie said.
Club teams in Finland often bring in American players to suit up, and Quarshie made it a point to regularly introduce himself and ask them to show his tape to their coaches or anyone else who may be interested. Once his tape circulated, St Peter’s called, and Quarshie was bound for the United States.
Quarshie was an immediate impact at St. Peters, despite being forced to adapt to the faster version of American football. Quarshie and his defensive teammates led the MAAC in total defense at 263 yards per game and rushing defense at 103.5 yards per contest. His rookie performance earned him second-team NCAA Division I-AA All-America honors.
Even though Quarshie became an instant star for St, Peters, he says the transition was far from smooth.
“Without a question, my biggest transition when I came from Finland to the U.S. was just getting used to the language and the speed of the game,” Quarshie said. “The speed was a huge difference, and it took me a while to get used to that.”
The language barrier wasn’t easily overcome on the field or in the classroom.
“Academically, it was different to adjust to studying in a foreign language,” Quarshie said. “It took a long time to adjust.”
The language barrier often led to humorous incidents on the field too.
“We were preparing for a game at the beginning of my freshman season,” Quarshie said. “Coach was talking about a bootleg, and I had to say ‘Coach what’s a bootleg?’ We had to stop practice for them to explain to me what it was.
"But my teammates and coaches understood and were really patient with me. I also got a lot of work as a freshman and after a while I got the hang of it.”
Another major difference Quarshie discovered was the premium placed on football in the United States after arriving from a country where the game’s popularity lags far behind more traditional sports, like ice hockey and soccer. Many times in Finland a coach would play alongside his players and everyone would pay for trips and equipment themselves.
“I got here, and we had weight rooms for athletes and trainers taking care of us; I was like ‘wow this is awesome’,” Quarshie said. “I was used to carrying my own stuff around practice and doing everything myself. Now, being to the point where you have a lot people trying to help you achieve your goals, that’s pretty nice.”
After two-years of punishing opposing offenses at St. Peter’s, Quarshie transferred to Columbia, sat out one season due to NCAA transfer regulations and has now become a force to be reckoned with on the Lions’ defensive line. He has also become one of its most respected players. He was named team captain prior to the 2004 season.
After playing in some games in Finland where scores often approached triple digits, Quarshie said he really appreciates the level of competition in the United States, and particularly in the Ivy League.
“The caliber of play here is definitely higher,” Quarshie said. “I also managed to reach a sort of comfort zone at St. Peter’s, and one of the reasons I wanted to leave was I knew that in order to develop you can’t be in a comfort zone. There wasn’t a game where I felt totally comfortable last season (at Columbia). The Ivy League is very competitive.”
Columbia showed a renewed fire under first-year coach Bob Shoop last season, finishing with its best record since 1998 as well as taking two of its last three Ivy contests. After one full season with Shoop, Quarshie and teammates are looking to improve on last season’s marks.
“Finishing 4-6 isn’t where we wanted to be, but it’s an improvement and we’re hoping to build on that,” Quarshie said. “We had a lot of guys that were able to stay in New York City this summer, so we’ve been working pretty hard and are hoping to improve our record this year.”
An economics/political science major, Quarshie is preparing for life after football by participating in an analyst program in sales and trading with Citigroup this summer. Even with the NFL as a possibility after this year, the senior definitely understands the value of a well-rounded Ivy League experience.
“When I decided to transfer from St. Peters, I wanted to make sure that I got more out of this than just football,” Quarshie said. “I wanted to make sure I had something that would give me a good experience, and I felt Columbia would do that. Hopefully I can play in the NFL, but I think there will be a lot of different opportunities I can pursue; I’m pretty confident there are.”
--Eddy Lentz
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