WATSONVILLE — In Ty Sambrailo’s eyes, St. Francis High has not changed much since he last roamed the halls of the small Watsonville private school during his senior year in 2010.
The classrooms and offices still make him reminisce of old teachers, friends and coaches. The gym still brings back memories of his high school basketball career — and its abrupt end after a nasty ankle sprain as a junior. And the school’s weight room — still his favorite space on campus — reminds him of how far he’s come over the years.
“There’s so many memories, friendships and relationships with coaches and friends and staff, just the school itself,” Sambrailo said. “It’s fun to walk the halls and relive and rethink about the people who helped me get to where I am.”
One change the Watsonville native will notice in the near future: his No. 51 jersey hanging in the rafters of the school’s gym.
The now-NFL offensive lineman had his high school football jersey retired before the school’s boys’ basketball team played against Pacific Grove on Feb. 7.
“All of this, it’s been surreal for me,” Sambrailo said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
Sambrailo, like his alma mater, hasn’t changed much either. The 6-foot-5, 315-pounder was still the down-to-earth, small-city guy that left to play college football at Colorado State with dreams of one day playing in the NFL.
Sambrailo, who has made close to $4 million in his first four years in the league, showed up to the ceremony in black Nikes, jeans and a St. Francis jacket. He hugged his old football coach Joe Gregorio as the latter gushed about him in a speech, thanked almost everyone on hand during his address and then stuck around for the basketball game, posing for photos and signing autographs for anyone who approached.
The next day he voluntarily returned to the campus to officiate the school’s flag football intramural draft.
“That’s what makes Ty, Ty,” Gregorio said. “He’s still the same ol’ Ty, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change.”
His hair might be different — his long locks didn’t sprout until his days at Colorado State — and he’s definitely grown into his big frame — he left St. Francis at 270 pounds. His hands carry a bit more bling, too — a diamond encrusted Super Bowl 50 ring hangs on his right hand, and much more modest wedding band from his recent marriage to longtime girlfriend Alex DaRosa accents his left hand. But those are all minor external changes that have had little to no impact on Sambrailo’s inner makeup.
“Since the first time I met him, he’s always been a genuinely good guy,” said St. Francis Athletic Director Adam Hazel, who organized the jersey retirement ceremony. “A lot of people root for him because he’s an easy guy to root for… He’s a great role model for the kids.”
St. Francis alumnus Ty Sambrailo, right, hung around after his jersey retirement ceremony to sign autographs for local kids. — Tony Nunez/Pajaronian
St. Francis senior Andrew Seymour, a three-sport athlete who, like Sambrailo, recently garnered all-state recognition for his play on the football field, said as much after listening to Sambrailo’s speech.
“It’s just inspiring to know that someone that comes from a small town, a small school that no one’s heard of, can go that far with a good work ethic,” said Seymour, who said he felt like a “2-year old” while shaking Sambrailo’s hand after the ceremony. “Obviously, the physique helps, but it’s inspiring to see that and say, ‘I can do that, too.’ You just have to put in the work, put in the time and things can work out.”
Sambrailo was selected by the Denver Broncos with the 59th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, but was traded to the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 after struggling to find his way in the Mile High City. He lost his first season — Denver’s Super Bowl winning year — to a shoulder injury, and an elbow injury hindered his play the following year.
Finally healthy, Sambrailo played in 15 games — two starts — during his first season with Atlanta, and at last was able to lock himself in the weight room during the offseason to put on the necessary bulk to duel with the best defensive linemen the NFL has to offer. He only strayed away from his training for his wedding in Napa Valley in late June — he and his wife even postponed their honeymoon so he could get back to the Falcons’ facility and prepare for the 2018 season.
“It was worth it,” Sambrailo said. “I had a good summer, and I felt prepared.”
His play said as much. He saw action in all 16 games last season and finished off the final quarter of season as the team’s starting right tackle.
“It’s a lot of hard work to get here. There’s been a lot of ups and downs,” Sambrailo said. “The ups are great, but the downs are just as tough. My advice for anyone would be to work hard and to be resilient. Stuff happens. You’re going to get knocked down, but it’s all about getting back up and not only matching where you were before, but surpassing it. Every time you get knocked down, you have to get up and get better.”
Sambrailo’s father, Mark, said he was happy to see his son stay resilient after the ups and downs of the last four years. Having him back home around family was nice, too.
“Being in the NFL, it’s not as glorified as everybody thinks,” Mark said. “It’s a brutal system. It’s heartless at times, but it is a business.”
The Sambrailo family will be reacquainted with the business side of the NFL soon enough.
Sambrailo is scheduled to be a free agent in March, and he could very well end up on his third NFL team in five years.
Mark, a lifelong fan of the San Francisco 49ers whose father had season tickets back in days of Kezar Stadium, wouldn’t mind having his son play just an hour up the road at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
“Wouldn’t that be fun?” Mark asked. “Who knows what’s going to happen? Atlanta loves him, but who knows where he’s going to end up. I know a lot of teams are looking for tackles, and he wants to have a starting job, especially after last year.”
Sambrailo, who grew up a 49er fan and is close friends with starting center Weston Richburg — they appeared in each other’s wedding and were teammates at Colorado State, said he’s ready for whatever the whirlwind of the NFL has in store.
“At this point, I’m leaving it all open,” Sambrailo said. “That would be exciting to be close to home, but I’m kind of hoping that Atlanta will keep me around. We’ll see what happens.”
