HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Cumberland County native is using his kicking skills to achieve his professional sports dream, in a sport he never imagined he'd play.
Joseph Panuccio is the kicker for the Harrisburg Stampede, a professional indoor football team that returned this year after a decade away with the relaunch of American Indoor Football (AIF).
However, the journey for the Mechanicsburg Area High School and soccer clinic coach by day, pro football kicker by night, is an unconventional one.
"It started with just an idea," recalled Panuccio. "And then it just kind of fell into my lap."
Panuccio's dream has always been to play professional sports, but ever since his dad gave him a soccer ball for his first birthday gift, he thought it would be a pro career on the soccer pitch rather than the football field.
It was a professional soccer path that Panuccio seemed destined to be on. He began playing soccer at the age of four, moving up the ranks quickly.
He played at the club level through his youth including a time when he was teammates with current U.S. soccer superstar Christian Pulisic.
He continued his journey at Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School, which set him up for a chance to play NCAA D1 soccer at Ryder University for two years, followed by two years of DII soccer at East Stroudsburg University, where he was named to the All-PSAC 1st Team as a midfielder.
His dream was becoming ever closer to a reality when he was given an opportunity to make a jump to the professional level overseas in Belarus.
However, after a brief stint, the journey was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He returned home asking himself, 'What's next?'
It wasn't until what seemed like a typical night, turning to the sport he loved, shooting the soccer ball with his older brother, was he asked with the far-fetched question by his sibling, 'Why don't you just walk onto the [Philadelphia] Eagles?'
It was a question that to most people would have been laughed off.
Panuccio, however, took it as a challenge.
"I love chasing goals. So the day I made this my goal, [I told myself], 'I'm gonna commit myself to this, and I'm gonna be the best version of myself at this that I can be,'" said Panuccio. "That night, I went on Amazon, I bought three footballs, a tee and a stand and I started training hard. I didn't know what I was training for. I didn't know how I was gonna get on the Eagles, but I was training."
From that night on, Panuccio was determined to make his new dream a reality. He and his brother spent hours refining and testing football kicking techniques. They watched dozens of football games together analyzing kickers from the AFL, IFL, AIF and any other leagues they could get film of.
One thing was clear for Panuccio: "In football, to get data you have to be precise and exact. Where soccer, it's just like a feeling it out thing," said Panuccio. "I found that in football, it's better to be more mechanical and precise rather than that soccer side of it."
Once they locked the technique down...
"I'll go two steps back, full steps back and then two steps to the left, making sure to touch my feet in between each step," said Panuccio on his routine.
...it was all about practicing with a different ball, on a different field, playing a completely different sport using a familiar kicking skill that didn't feel so different at all.
"It was like weirdly familiar. So, I knew right away when I kicked it that I had it and that I had something special and that I just needed to run with it," said Panuccio.
They say timing is everything because it was then the opportunity with the Harrisburg Stampede arose. The professional indoor football team was returning and Panuccio had one month to get ready for tryouts.
"I found [out] that I was up against kickers that have played arena football that have played pro or that have played in the past at a high level, but it didn't faze me," said Panuccio. "I've always believed in myself, I just knew that if I trusted God, and I trusted myself, that I would be fine."
Fine may be an understatement because when tryouts came, all it took was the sound of the football coming off Panuccio's foot that had Stampede coaches turning their heads.
"My back was turned and I heard the kick. And then I turned and looked and saw where it was and I turned and saw it was Joe. That kid can kick," said Harrisburg Stampede head coach Bernie Nowotarski.
Against all odds, despite kicking his first football just a month earlier, Panuccio won the kicking job.
This past Saturday, in just his second football game ever, he hit his first career field goal - professional or otherwise - with his family there in full support of his new journey.
"They are so incredibly supportive of this. They've never been to a football game and they said they're loving it," said Panuccio. "I kind of blacked out during that field goal. I just knew I had to get it done."
A job he knows he has to continue perfecting for the teammates and coaches who have already given so much to him.
"This team is amazing. The culture is amazing. The coaches are amazing. The guys are amazing," said Panuccio. "Going into football, I didn't know what to expect but these guys are so supportive and loving. I'm so grateful to be a part of this team. As my first football experience, I feel lucky. And I feel blessed."
Coaches and teammates feel just as lucky to have the former soccer player on their side.
"To see him succeed, to enjoy it and be the type of teammate he is, it fits our mold here perfectly. I'm thrilled for him," said Nowotarski.
However, Panuccio says there is still much for him to learn, work on and get comfortable with. The pads he now has to wear in the new sport he now plays are a reflection of this.
"I was walking around my house and pads and a helmet," said Panuccio. "I was with my helmet and pads to the point where I was doing everyday activities with it on just trying to get acclimated."
The all-in mentality Panuccio has always had to achieve his goals which is still being one of the best to kick a ball. Just this time- one that is a slightly different shape.
"Soccer, of course, will always have a special place in my heart, but football is the only thing I can think about right now. For the foreseeable future, my passion, and my full focus and motivation is in football," said Panuccio. "My first goal would be to win a championship with this team. My long-term goal would be to move to a higher level like the CFL, UFL or the NFL."
A goal that might seem unlikely for a soccer player turned pro kicker, but that's what Panuccio's journey has been all about. Defying the odds. To him, why should he stop now?
"Sometimes you might not know how you're going to get there," said Panuccio. "But believe in yourself and keep your mind open to doors that are going to open."
Full interview with Harrisburg Stampede kicker Joseph Panuccio:
