About 10 years ago, Tom Callahan was at the Carrier Dome to cheer on a neighbor who was playing for the opposing team.
Though Callahan started the day cheering for the opponent, things began to shift as the game went on.
“The place was off the hook,” Callahan said. “I can now admit it that during the game I actually got so caught up in the energy of the place and started to quietly root for Syracuse during the game.”
Fast forward 10 years later, and Callahan will no longer need to stay quiet. Callahan, a graduate transfer from Fordham with one year of eligibility remaining, committed to Syracuse on Friday, and figures to become the team’s starting long snapper when the 2023 season starts.
Blessed to be committed to Syracuse!! Go Orange 🍊 pic.twitter.com/PhO7eLYhGI
— Tom Callahan (@TomCallahan57) January 27, 2023
That’s the position he started at for the last two seasons with the Rams, where he was named to the All-Patriot League First Team by Phil Steele following the 2022 season.
“I chose Syracuse because its an opportunity for me to get a world class education, play high level football with great coaches and teammates, and to represent Cuse nation, one of the best fan bases in the country,” Callahan said. “With a combination like that it was a no brainer.”
Callahan got a first-hand look at what it’s like to have the support of the Syracuse community. Shortly after he posted his commitment on social media, he immediately began to get follows, direct messages and retweets.
He also started seeing memes of the cult classic 90s movie, Tommy Boy, a movie in which he shares the same name as the character, Tommy Callahan, played by the late comedian Chris Farley.
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“I want to thank the Cuse community for being so welcoming to me,” Callahan said. “I also love all the Tommy Boy memes that they have posted as well. At Fordham, I was known as “BTC,” Big Tom Callahan and it seems like the Cuse fans and I share the same humor. If there is anything that I can tell Cuse Nation is ‘Take the butcher’s word for it.'”
Though the butcher quote from Tommy Boy was a laugh out loud moment in the movie, it’s akin to a Dino Babers favorite: “Faith is belief without evidence.” Callahan also cited his relationship with the coaching staff as a reason he committed.
“Coach Babers and coach (Bob Ligoshefsky) are awesome. I knew from the first minute that I met coach Babers that he was the type of coach I wanted to play for,” Callahan said. “Coach Lig was the first Cuse coach that I met. I loved his intensity and passion for football and, especially, for special teams.”
“He has a unmatched knowledge of special teams and I am pumped to learn from him. I also buy into his philosophy that “the best is our standard.” I know that he is going make the special teams unit and me the best in the country.”
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