A middle school teacher and part-time bartender, Vince Papale left his hometown of Interboro, Pennsylvania in the spring of 1974 to try out for the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League. He made the team as a wide receiver and played for them for two seasons. In 1976, at the age of 30, Vince tried out for the Philadelphia Eagles, made the team, and became the oldest rookie in the history of the NFL. He still holds that record today. Mr. Papale was with the Eagles for four seasons as a wide receiver and was voted Special Teams Captain by his teammates. A shoulder injury ended his career in 1979. Mr. Papale was voted “Man of the Year” by the Eagles in 1978 for his many charitable activities.
Mr. Papale’s athletic prowess was evident in his high school days. A graduate of Interboro High School (1964), he was a three sport Varsity Letter winner senior year in football, basketball & track. He still holds the high school Outdoor Pole Vault record.
Mr. Papale attended St. Joseph’s College from 1964 to 1968 and graduated with an MS Degree in Marketing/Management Science. He was awarded a full athletic scholarship for Track and Field. His Senior Year he captained the Track Team and was recipient of the Most Outstanding Senior Athlete.
A movie about Vince Papale called Invincible was released August 25th, 2006. It features Mark Wahlberg as Papale, Greg Kinnear as former Eagles Coach Dick Vermeil, and Elizabeth Banks as Janet. Vince wrote a book, also titled Invincible, about the true story that inspired the Disney motion picture.
Vince skillfully weaves his amazing story, with a nice blend of humor and passion, sharing his playbook for success mixing in education as the main ingredient.
“Vince was absolutely fantastic — we could not have asked for a more gracious, passionate and relatable speaker for this crowd of sales guys! … he presented his message relating his experiences growing up and his time with the NFL and overcoming all odds, translated better than any other message could have. He was also so funny and fun loving and received a very well-deserved standing ovation at the end of his speech. He stayed at the cocktail reception afterwards and took pictures and signed autographs and the guys just loved that!”
“… the event was great! We did a survey with our employees immediately following the event and greater than 90% of our employees found the program to be excellent! That speaks volumes!”
“He was personable, down to earth, genuine and his presentation was motivational. He was a true joy to work with prior to the event as well as during.”
“Vince is a high energy, engaging speaker who really connects with his audience.”
