By Marc Eckel/The Times
May 27, 2013

Tommi Vincent grew up in Trenton, watching her brother become an All-County football player at Trenton High School.

Later in her life, she watched her husband, Troy, become an All-Pro football player for the Eagles.

Now, as a mother of five, she watches her two oldest sons, Troy Jr. and Taron excel on the football field at the high school and middle school level.

And she never worries, never did.

“I’ve always felt like it’s a wonderful thing for young people to play sports,” Tommi said. “They gain valuable lessons in life. Football, especially, teaches you so much. I’m very comfortable with (Troy Jr. and Taron) playing football. I enjoy it.”

In an age where more and more concern grows over the safety of the game and certain groups are calling for parents, especially mothers, to not allow their children to play football, where editorials are being written, calling for the demise of the sport, Tommi Vincent could be an ambassador for the game.

“To be honest with you, the only concern I ever had about injuries was with Troy at the latter part of his career,” she said. “Other than that, I never worried. I’ve seen people get hurt doing all kinds of things, not just playing football. You see injuries in every sport.”

Troy Sr.’s career began in Miami in 1992 and lasted until his final season with the Washington Redskins in 2006. He suffered a major injury his second year in Miami when he tore his ACL, but he was back on the field the following season.

Through the years, there were some close calls and some games missed here and there, but over the span of his career, he stayed relatively healthy and now works in the league office as the NFL’s senior vice president of player development.

“You have to realize (injuries) are part of playing the game,” Tommi says. “You have to take the bad with the good. I never watched Troy play and thought about him getting hurt. You knew the possibility was there, but I didn’t think about it. I just watched him play, wanted him to do well and for his team to win.”

Now, she watches her two sons. Troy Jr. is projected as one of the top high school players in the country this fall as a cornerback, go figure, for The Gillman School in Maryland.

At a shade under 5-foot-11 and a little over 180 pounds, the senior-to-be has offers from 20 major colleges, according to rivals.com. From Arizona State to Rutgers, with Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, North Carolina, North Carolina State and, of course, Wisconsin, where his father starred and his older sister just graduated a few years ago, are all involved.

There is also Taron, a seventh-grade student in Virginia, who has grown to 6-1 and 240 pounds and is already ranked by the people who rank such things as the nation’s top recruit in the Class of 2018.

“It’s definitely different,” Tommi said of watching her sons play as compared to watching her husband or even her brother.

She says she worries but not about either of them getting hurt, just about them doing well.

“My stomach is in knots sometimes,” she said. “I just want them to have success and enjoy playing the game. From being around football so long, I understand the game, so when I’m watching Troy play — and I’ve watched his father develop him — I just watch to see if he does what he is supposed to do. As far as him getting hurt, that’s something I never think about happening. I try not to think about the negatives.”

Contact Mark Eckel at meckel@njtimes.com

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