Indiana University Athletics
IU Remembers Yeronimo Ciriaco
8/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 18, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - One year ago today, Indiana University lost a special member of its football family when Yeronimo Ciriaco passed away due to a seizure causing a car accident on Aug. 21, 2004.
Ciriaco, a defensive tackle from 1996-99, arrived at IU from the Dominican Republic with a desire to complete his degree and the determination to not only learn the English language but pursue a dream of becoming a college football strength coach.
He closed out his career with both a bachelor's and master's degree from Indiana University.
A few weeks before passing away, Ciriaco made that dream come true. He earned a job as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois.
On Aug. 21, 2005, Indiana head coach Terry Hoeppner will honor Ciriaco as his word of the day for practice to remind the Hoosiers what being a student-athlete at Indiana University is all about.
Additionally, members of his extended Hoosier family share their thoughts on the man named `Mo' to his close friends:
Former Indiana head football coach Bill Mallory
"In my opinion, he was special. Everyone had a lot of respect for him. He came out of a tough situation from the Bronx. It is a tough area. He was a young man that had some things to overcome in his life, but there were never any roadblocks to him. He was very positive and wanted to do something with his life. Once he came, people saw how positive he was. He did everything it took for him to acquire his education. We never had any problem with attendance with Mo. He would sit up in front of class. It was important to him. Education was very important to him. I said that when Mo got the diploma, I would be there to shake his hand. I also was there to see him get his masters. We developed a close friendship. Mo would call just to talk to me. I would hear from him every couple of weeks.
As far as his football is concerned, he was a young man that put a lot of effort into it. He did everything to contribute to the program. He was what I call a program player. You always wanted him on you team, regardless of whether it was sports related or not.
You have to look at the positive side of what he accomplished. I just respected him so. What he said, he did. He walked it, he didn't talk it. He was a person of action. He was so focused with tremendous self pride. He just wanted to achieve. That is what you want to see. That is the challenge today that we have when we work with young people. We work with them and direct them. We never know what they can accomplish. Mo didn't buy into the `can't' business. He had an abundant amount of energy. He was just a special individual."
Former assistant football coach Jim Muehling
"Mo was one of those guys that was a quintessential overachiever. His motor never stopped, and he kept going all the time. He was always smiling, always happy and always talking. I first saw him his junior year in high school at a spring practice, I was able to watch that. He went to the school in the Bronx at JFK. It is sunken in a valley surrounded by high-rise cliffs. It is intimidating. Mo was out there going 100 mph. He was a rah-rah guy, always chattering, trying to get his guys going.
Everyone really liked Mo. You think about him, you started smiling and laughing. He overcame some incredible difficulties. He was an epileptic, and he learned English as a second language because English wasn't spoken in his home. He had some challenges to overcome, but he was just such a positive person that I thought he would add to our team. He had to work. He worked harder than anyone else. He wasn't given a ton of gifts in terms of academic ability, but he used everything he had to the nth degree. He was always there early and always stayed late. He never missed a class or tutor. A lot of people doubted he would get a college degree. Then, he went to grad school and he gutted it out. He was just like that. One of those people you liked instantly. He was a loyal friend. Just a great kid."
 Picture from the front side of Ciriaco's memorial card.  |
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Director of Annual Giving Kelly Bomba
"Yeronimo hailed from the Dominican Republic and grew up most of his life in a rough area in the Bronx. Neither of his parents speaks English. He was recruited to play football for IU by Jim Muehling. He came to IU to play for Coach Mallory. The first in his family, possibly his neighborhood, to go to college. Mo embraced college fully. Almost every experience here was a new one. There is a funny story his friends tell about when he first arrived at fall camp and they came to their first training table meal. Mo was in awe that all of this food was prepared for them and that they could eat as much as they wanted. He did not take anything for granted.
When Mo arrived here - English was still a second language for him. He had to work extremely hard with a speech therapist. Mo also suffered from epilepsy - having to take medication daily yet still suffering from seizures. Mo was determined to not let these circumstances hold him back. He persistently pursued his college degree and playing for the Hoosiers. Mo had to work harder than most at both - but was more than willing to do so.
Mo was not the most athletic or talented football player, but he had the most heart and soul - by far. Mo never got to go to a bowl game, and I am not sure his teams had any winning seasons. However, he loved being Hoosier and was often heard saying, "it's a great day to be a Hoosier." Mo worked in the weight room for my husband, Matt at the end of his undergraduate time here.
Mo had never considered the possibility that he could earn a graduate degree. Once we convinced him that he could do it - he pursued it with vigor and was admitted to HPER to pursue a graduate degree in Applied Health Science/Safety Mgmt. He also was a graduate assistant and continued to work with football in strength and conditioning. In May 2004, Yeronimo Ciriaco - the boy with the broken English from the Bronx - earned a master's degree from Indiana University. A proud day for all of us who knew and loved him.
Last summer, he had an internship with the Indianapolis Colts assisting with strength and conditioning. He loved the experience. Late July 2004 - he was hired by Illinois to be the assistant strength coach for football. All of his hard work had earned him a position doing what he loved - he would be earning a good salary and have great benefits as a full-time employee. He was excited beyond words. Mo had planned on getting settled in Champaign then moving his family -particularly his niece Katherine - there so he could give them a better life. He never got the chance. A few weeks after arriving in Champaign, that tragic accident occurred that took Mo's life.
Thinking about Mo inspires me to live a better life - to be grateful, to be fearless, to work hard, to enjoy each day, to overcome obstacles. Mo touched many lives during his time at IU. His spirit and legacy will live on in those of us who knew and loved him."
Former teammate Pat Kraft
"Mo was a great friend to me and whoever had the good fortune to meet him. There wasn't a bad bone in his large body. He was a big man with an even bigger heart. He was a teddy bear that you fell in love with the minute you met him. He touched so many lives by his presence alone. He always had a smile on his face no matter where he was or what he was doing.
He loved Indiana, whether it was working for his master's at the HPER, working as weight room G.A. or donning his Indiana 96 football jersey. Everyday before practice you would here Mo yell at the top of his lungs "It's a great day to be a Hoosier". He really believed that with all his heart. Everyday, he was so excited to be a Hoosier!! Mo represented everything good about Indiana Football: dedication, hard work, determination and love for his school and his teammates.
After his funeral, his mother told us (a few of his teammates) a story that tells you how he felt about his days at Indiana. Mrs. Ciriaco would ask Mo every time she spoke with him if things were going well and if he wanted to come home to his family, Mo would just respond, "Mom things are fine, don't worry about me, I have my second family here in Bloomington that loves me also."
Mo is still missed very much by everyone who knew him. He was a special person and a special friend."
 Excerpt from back side of Ciriaco's memorial card. |
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Eligibility and Systems Office Anitra House
"I had the pleasure to be Yeronimo's academic advisor while he was here at Indiana. There are lots of things about him that were impressive. He came from another country from the Dominican Republic. He also had to learn English. He always spoke really fast and I think he had a little bit of a speech impediment. That made a lot of people have trouble understanding him.
One of the things I always remember about him is that there was no problem or obstacle too difficult for him to want to overcome. We used our special funds that the NCAA provides for students to get him some help with his speech. Fortunately, IU has a great speech and hearing department. He was faithful for several years at going on a weekly basis on going to speech and hearing to get his lessons. Mainly, one of the things they had him do was to try and slow down.
I remember school was not easy for Mo, but he persevered and worked very, very hard. He always went to class and did all the things that you wanted somebody to do. He worked with tutors; in fact we had a double team of tutors that worked with him. They, of course, loved him. He made great progress with them.
When he started talking about graduate school, we felt "Oh, wow!" That is just going to be another step up and even harder. He felt sure he could do it. I saw him one day with his 3x5 cards out and asked him what he was doing. Someone had given him the idea that he needed to work on his vocabulary so that when he took the GRE, he could get better scores. So, he tested himself with these flash cards to prepare himself for the GRE. That was the way he approached everything that he did. While he was in graduate school, he would ask me to look over a paper for him at times. Of course, I was very happy to do that.
He was passionate about the weight training. It was interesting because he ended up doing his master's degree in the health and safety area. He found all kinds of ways to make the assignments he had to do apply to his activities in the weight room. Teaching people proper safety procedures and everything. He actually won an award over at HPER for his graduate studies. He was very proud of that.
The other thing I remember and will never forget was after Coach Mallory was fired with a few games left in the season. A lot of those kids got a wake up call. They felt a bit guilty that they hadn't played better earlier. They really kicked in through the rest of the season. We ended the year by playing Purdue in West Lafayette. We beat them. It was a wonderful game. All of us academic advisors decided to go, since it was Coach Mallory's last game. We went to the locker room afterwards. Everyone was jubilant, but Mo came out of the locker room and that is where the phrase "It is a good day to be a Hoosier!" came from. It was particularly appropriate when his family picked the picture of him in his suit with the Old Oaken Bucket for his memorial card for his funeral. That was one of his highlights of his football career.
The other thing I would like to say is that even Mo lived a very short period of time, I don't know many people who accomplish everything they set out to accomplish. Even though he had a lot of obstacles to overcome in accomplishing those things, he would never see it that way. It was just another thing to get over and do. We all could take a lesson from the way he attacked problems. He didn't see them as problems. He saw them as another hill to climb.
I didn't realize how much of an inspiration he was to his family until his funeral. That is the sad thing; you sometimes don't understand that until something tragic happens. When we had the memorial service last fall, I got to know his family really well. You saw how much of a motivating factor he was for his whole family. Let's hope that they don't forget his legacy and that he continues to inspire them to do things that they think they can't do. That is the lesson we all need to learn from Mo. Nothing is impossible if you believe that you can do it."
