After helping lead Milford High School to a pair of Central Massachusetts Super Bowl titles in 1986 and 1987, Scott Faessler accepted a partial football scholarship to the University of Maine with the intent of playing Division 1 football.
“They were looking for speedy receivers and I was more of a possession receiver,’’ recalled Faessler, who was redshirted, stayed at Maine for the school year, and successfully transferred to Framingham State.
Framingham State coach Tom Raeke had tried to recruit him out of high school.
“I realized I wanted to start right away in football and also play baseball,’’ said Faessler, who went on to establish program records on both the gridiron and the diamond at Framingham State, where he is a member of the athletic hall of fame.
He was also inducted into the Milford High Hall of Fame individually and along with his teammates from the 1987 Central Mass. Division 1 Super Bowl squad.
A 5-foot-11, 190-pound wideout in college, Faessler holds the existing Framingham State record for catches in a single season (92, in 1990) and career (202).
He has remained close to the football program through a reunion fund-raiser for former teammate Kevin Gosnell, who was recently diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
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Faessler started in left field for a Rams baseball program that qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament each of his four seasons. His .395 career batting average is sixth all-time at the university.
The 44-year-old Lynn resident is a corrections officer with the Essex County sheriff’s department and also owns a landscaping business. In 1996, he married LeeAnn Ferrari of Lynn, and the couple have a daughter, Isabella, 11, and a son, R.J., 10. Faessler is an assistant coach with the East Lynn Bulldogs Pop Warner team, on which his son plays linebacker and fullback.
After attending Christ the King High in New York City, Faessler moved to Milford during his sophomore year when his father, Gene, a customer service representative for Prime Computer, was transferred to the Natick office.
“My father played tight end in high school and had great hands, and he must have passed that trait on to me,’’ said Faessler. His younger brother, Jason, who played football and basketball at Milford High, is a finance manager and resides in Southborough.
Scott Faessler played baseball until age 38 in the North Shore Baseball League; he is a member of the organization’s hall of fame.
At times in his life, baseball and football overlapped.
One summer, he was playing in a national baseball tournament in Johnstown, Pa., for the Milford Town Team and the next day was in preseason football camp as a redshirt freshman at Framingham State.
“The number-one thing for me was the camaraderie with my teammates,’’ said Faessler. “Many of my close friendships date back to my days at Milford High and Framingham State.’’
Marvin Pave can be reached at marvin.pave@rcn.com.
