SYRACUSE (AP) -- Jose Cruz had bounced around college football, so when Hofstra announced last December that it was ending its football program, he took the news in stride.
"It happened at Northeastern before it happened to us," Cruz, a bruising tight end, said. "That's how I knew. I heard about the situation, got bored one day, and Googled it. It was two or three weeks before it happened at Hofstra."
Still, it wasn't so easy hearing that your football team was being eliminated.
"They sent out a text message that day saying there was an urgent meeting. This was right after the season ended," wideout Aaron Weaver said. "We basically thought there was going to be a coaching change. The AD (athletic director) and coach just came in and broke the news to us that the board of trustees somehow voted the night before and there was no more football program.
"It was a real shock. It's really something I can't explain," Weaver said. "When somebody tells you your program's canceled and you've been there the last three or four years, to just take that away, take away that tradition that was there before we even got there, we really didn't believe it could happen."
When it did, area schools were ready to pounce, scooping up players.
Syracuse coach Doug Marrone wants to become a recruiting force in metropolitan New York City, so when Hofstra made the announcement he started watching film to see if there was anyone who could help his football team.
There was.
Syracuse offered scholarships to seniors Cruz and Weaver - and both earned starting spots on the Orange in preseason camp.
Cruz, a native of Johnstown, Pa., originally committed to North Carolina, changed his mind when coach John Bunning was fired, and enrolled at Akron when the Zips offered a scholarship. Unhappy there, he withdrew without first finding another team, enrolled at Hofstra in January 2009 and jumped at the chance to finish his career at Syracuse.
It wasn't so easy for Weaver, who grew up on Long Island.
"Jose, as soon as they offered he accepted," Weaver said. "I was still on the fence because my mind wasn't right from the whole situation. I grew up there. It was kind of hard for me. It (Syracuse) was the best situation for both of us, and we wanted to take advantage of it. We feel like we got a new lease on life."
Now roommates at Syracuse, their new teammates have marveled at their journey.
"To be put in a situation like that, I probably wouldn't know what to do," defensive tackle Bud Tribbey said. "If (Syracuse athletic director) Daryl Gross came to me today and said Syracuse football is dead, I'd probably flip out. I'd probably just lose it. They came in, worked hard, fit right in with everybody."
Weaver's final year of college has been star-crossed. He scored Syracuse's first touchdown of the season but now watches his teammates on Saturdays after tearing up his right knee in practice last month. He won't play again this year and a request for a medical hardship year was denied.
Cruz plays on, grateful for that final chance.
"Whenever I see Aaron, it's the first thing I think about - that the next play could be my last," said Cruz, who has started every game and also has a touchdown catch. "It's crazy."
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
