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Tom Cillo on Sept. 28, 2025 in PennsylvaniaNatasha DyeWed, December 3, 2025 at 9:16 PM UTC·5 min readNEED TO KNOW
Tom Cillo, a 58-year-old defensive lineman for Lycoming College, tells PEOPLE how he overcame his fear and went for his dreams of playing college football
Cillo was inspired after working as an equipment manager at his former high school in Pennsylvania, where he loved working with student athletes
Despite college football being "brutally hard," Cillo says it's been "amazing" to see the support he's received from around the world
Tom Cillo never played organized football before becoming a 58-year-old freshman defensive lineman.
"I joined my high school team and quit within two days," Cillo, who plays for Division III Lycoming College, tells PEOPLE while discussing his partnership with Aspercreme.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCillo spent 33 years working for the city of Williamsport, Pa. before going for his football dreams this year.
"I had worked a little construction before that, and also worked at a hardware store," says the father of three children (Ryan, 21, Nicole, 28, and stepson Shawn, 32) — all of whom are older than his teammates.
Later, he accepted a job at his alma mater, Williamsport High School, as an equipment manager and custodian.
Gene J. Puskar/AP
Tom Cillo at Lycoming College on Sept. 28, 2025"I absolutely loved working with the student athletes," he says. "I actually trained a number of them in the mornings before school started, and I really enjoyed that."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAt one point, Cillo says he had parents asking him how much he charges for training. "And I said, 'No charge.' I don't want a penny because I genuinely just care about the kids, and I want to see the programs excel and improve."
Then, he had an idea. Cillo wanted to go back to college and play football. "I've been thinking about this for years, and I would say it's safe to say I've always held myself back. This fear or failure, of, 'What if I'm not good enough?,' and I finally got to the point where I'm like, there's only one way to find out."
He shares of his decision, "I know people are going to think I'm crazy, and think that I'm out of my mind to do something like this at 58 years old, but I thought, for once in my life, I'm going to write the script. I'm not going to let somebody else write the script for me, and I'm going to go for it."
Gene J. Puskar/AP
Tom Cillo of Lycoming College on Sept. 28, 2025After he bounced the idea off of a good friend who he trains with, Cillo says his friend was "ecstatic, and I think maybe, arguably more excited than I was."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"So, he said, 'Tom, if you think you can do this, do it man. Just go for it. You won't know unless you give it a shot,' " Cillo recalls.
He adds, "This isn't something where I was spending day after day on a sofa, and boom, this thought just came to me, I'm going to give college football a try. I stayed in shape throughout the years, and honestly...my heart felt like I could still physically pull this off."
And pull it off, he did. Cillo made the team and signed a partnership with Aspercreme, which he says is a must-have for his 58-year-old body on the football field.
"Training camp is brutally hard," says Cillo. "This is college football, and it's tough, and it's hard, and it's physical, and it's challenging, and I've gotten this far. There were people that thought, well, he'll never make it out of training camp, he'll never survive the season."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I'm so sore, I'm always sore now," Cillo says with a laugh.
Cillo, a criminal justice major, says there have been times throughout the season where he felt "ready to walk" away. "I was ready to say, 'You know what, I can't do this, it's too hard.' "
But then a friend of Cillo's texted him a message he couldn't forget. "A friend texted me before camp, two words: Be unbreakable."
Cillo says he "tucked that word into my memory, and had to reference it a few times" on the field.
Beyond pushing himself on the field, Cillo says he's also proud of himself for taking his academics seriously: a drug and alcohol problem derailed his dedication in his teens and early 20s.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"One of the things I wanted to prove to myself was could I take the classroom serious, and after 41 years, that was probably the most intimidating part to me out of all this," he says. "I'm happy to report, currently, I have three Bs and an A, and I'm proud of that."
An outpouring of messages from inspired supporters have helped Cillo stay motivated, he says.
"I have had messages from Bosnia, Germany, Spain, England, Australia, Mexico, all over the United States, and honestly from preteens all the way to people in their 80s, and for a multitude of reasons, and I'm telling you, I bet you I've seen the word inspiration, literally thousands of times," Cillo tells PEOPLE. "Honestly, it's overwhelming. And there's times I'll sit in my car and reflect on things, and I get emotional about it, it's been amazing."
Read the original article on People
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