Molina's living his dream in Denmark

Sometimes, as that sage Tom Cruise suggests in "Risky Business," you just have to say what the (heck). And so, Alex Molina and Alex Polito figured, what's the risk in posting a resume if the reward offers the general idea of "once in a lifetime opportunity?"

"The only thing," Molina was saying earlier this week, "is that we promised to be a package deal."

Now you know how Molina and Polito - friends, teammates from their UConn days - have become countrymen, too. Of Denmark. They are the latest UConn alumni to make it in professional football, playing for the Triangle Razorbacks of the Danish American Football Federation.

It wasn't long after the right set of eyes saw Polito's inquiry on Europlayers.com., a web site for prospective professional football players, that he said "I want to bring a guy with me." That guy, Alex Molina - "A-Mo," as his pals at Waterford High used to call him - caught 150 yards worth of passes and two touchdowns in his first professional game last week.

"I played receiver and free safety," Molina said. "Both ways. Just like Waterford High."

Fancy that. Alex Molina and Alex Polito. A-Mo and A-Po. Getting paid to pay professional football.

It's a six-month season in an 11-team league with 45-man rosters. The Razorbacks (no word how one yells "wooooo pig sooooie" in Danish) play in Vejle, a town of about 50,000. Molina said the league pays for "everything but food" and still gives the players enough left over, in his words, "to live and have fun."

Apparently. Check out Molina's blog at heartofahog.razorbacks.dk. There's "Karaoke Night at the Corner Pub" (A-Mo says he does a mean remake of "Summer Nights" from "Grease") and a trip to Dublin to see old Waterford High friend Pat Renehan, who is studying abroad at UCD Belfield. Sightseeing included tours of the Guinness and Jameson factories.

"The mood over here is very laid back," Molina said in a phone conversation earlier this week. "When they say 'later' here, it could be five minutes or three hours. You just need to roll with it and relax."

Molina was working as a personal trainer at Planet Fitness in Waterford when The Call came. No one was really expecting it. And when the league proved to be legitimate - it produced kicker Morten Andersen, among others - Molina and Polito headed to Vejle (VYE-luh), located in southeastern Denmark.

"It's got a really cool downtown area," Molina said. "All the bars are on one block, a lot like downtown New London. Not completely different from home."

Except for the language and the food. Molina reports to have tried Leverpostej, warm rough-chopped liver paste on rye with bacon and mushrooms. Not mom's lasagna, but not terrible, he said.

"And the Danish are the best," he said, referring to the pastry, not the people, although the people are quite friendly.

Molina said American football's popularity among the Danish lags behind soccer, handball and rugby, but that many of the townsfolk in Vejle know the American football players.

If it's not already more obvious than a roadside billboard, let's make it so: Alex Molina is the Eastern Connecticut Conference's Everyman. He was not blessed with the ability that attracted Texas, UCLA and Michigan. But he took whatever God gave him and squeezed every drop from it, going from walk-on to a scholarship. Randy Edsall once called him "everything we're ever looking for."

Molina went to UConn because former teammate Zach Hurd was headed to Storrs and assistant coach Hank Hughes told Molina to "send some tapes." Two years later, he won the "Iron Husky" award and the respect of absolutely everyone.

"We recognize the top 11 players in the program based on testing of speed, strength, conditioning and power," UConn strength and conditioning coach Jerry Martin once said of him. "The 12th (the 'Iron Husky') is based on a staff vote. Being a good teammate, effort, work ethic. He might not be the fastest or strongest, but basically gives us everything he has. That's Mr. Molina."

Mr. Molina might never have fancied himself a professional football player. But then, this is the best of sports, when they offer educational experiences which extend beyond the classroom and, in this case, across the pond. All Alex Molina did was try as hard as he could.

And now A-Mo is having the time of his life.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.