Joe Torchia had waited for the moment when he would get "the call."

Scrambling up from where he was seated, he adjusted his uniform, strapped on his helmet, and... slid down the fire pole, off to fight a fire. Luckily, it was all just a drill - part of a local volunteer firefighter program for teenagers. Torchia participated in when he was 15 years old. Even though the Virginia senior tight end has since moved on to other endeavors - mainly football-related - he continues to embody that same blue-collar work ethic associated with the fire fighting profession. "I could see him as a firefighter," Virginia tight ends coach Scott Wachenheim said. "He's big, he's strong, and he goes hard."

As a senior Torchia finds himself bearing greater responsibilities on the team, but that weight is minor compared to what he was saddled with early in his life. Born with a misalignment of his knees and feet, Torchia was forced to wear special shoes and bars on his legs as an infant to correct the problem. "As a new dad, you're very upset about that because you have wishes and dreams for your kid," Joe Torchia, Sr. said. "He had to work hard to get his knees and feet in line, and he's come a long way. He's really an All-American kid."

And what better sport for an All-American kid to play than football? When Torchia was four and five years old, his dad remembers taping "Monday Night Football" games so that young Joe could watch the famous 'Are you ready for some football?' introduction over and over again.

Thinking "that was the greatest thing in the world," according to his father, the younger Torchia was soon ready to play some football of his own. By the time Torchia was 10, his parents were traveling 20 miles to a nearby town just so he could play in a league with 11- and 12-year olds. The commute proved to be well worth it, however, as Torchia's team went on to win a state championship and even got an opportunity to play in Giants Stadium. "From then on, it was gung-ho with football," Torchia, Sr. said.

While that may have marked the beginning of a successful playing career for the eventual Virginia tight end, it also marked just the start of what would be a lot of driving for the Torchia family. Coming from Cold Spring, N.Y. - a small town on the Hudson River with one stop light and a high school that graduated only 60 students a year - Torchia's options already were limited. But when the Haldane High football team folded after his sophomore year, Torchia had no choice but go elsewhere - in this case, across the border - if he wished to continue playing. "There's not much to do in a small town, but we brought him over to New Jersey and kind of opened his eyes to what hard work was," Torchia, Sr. said. "Football in New Jersey is very complex compared to football in New York. The facilities in New York can't compare with the facilities in New Jersey - it's a whole new ballgame."

While Queen of Peace High School in North Arlington, N.J., offered Torchia a chance to be a part of that whole new ballgame - of the tight end's senior class alone, 11 players went on to play in college - it also afforded him a blue-ribbon education. At the same time that Torchia's coaching staff expanded from two coaches to 10 - including a special tight ends' coach - the family's drive lengthened from mere minutes to 100 miles roundtrip each day. Rising at 6 a.m., Torchia's mother, Florence, would drop her son off at school in the morning; Torchia's father would then follow in the evening, staying around to watch football practice before making the trek back with his son and arriving home around 9 p.m. each night. No matter how much extra work the commute may have required for Torchia and his parents, it became worthwhile when the tight end earned All-American honors as a senior, and even more importantly, 23 Division I scholarship offers. "I don't think he would have had one offer had he stayed where we were", Torchia, Sr. said. "The academics at Queen of Peace are pretty impressive, so he was a fortunate kid that way, too. But it was a lot of hard work.

When Joe got to UVa, he said ,"Dad, my day's the same. I get up at 6 o'clock and work until 9 o'clock every day." The hard-working Torchia doesn't mean that to be taken as a complaint though. "With greater age comes great responsibility, and the way you're able to handle that responsibility is what really shapes you as a man," the senior said. "The structure I've been instilled with in trying to handle football and school has really helped with time management and it's going to prepare me for the future?"

Now in his final season at Virginia, Torchia finds that future rapidly approaching. Aside from illustrating to the tight end the benefits of his own hard work, Torchia's rehab stint also taught the Cavalier something about his character - and his career aspirations. "I'm a sociology major, but now I'm hoping to go into chiropractics." Torchia said. "I've been going to the chiropractor at least once a week here since my rehab, and I see the kind of help it gives me. Something little like that can really make a difference in how you feel and move around, and that's something I want to invest more time into?" "He's always told me, 'Dad, one thing about football is that you have to have the passion for it, because otherwise, it's just too much work,'" Torchia, Sr. said. "If he has passion to be a chiropractor, I'm sure he'll be a good one." That he will work hard at it goes without saying.