Like Father, Like Sons
Austin, Dean, and Chase Misiura followed in their father Rik’s footsteps by playing football for Coach Eric Hamilton. The three are also planning careers in their father’s current field, physical therapy.
Just as Rik Misiura ’79 did not intend to create a family legacy by earning a spot on the Trenton State College football team in 1977, he could not have possibly envisioned that the knee injury that ended his playing days would serve as the springboard for the rest of his life.
“When I hurt my knee the doctor said I needed to have surgery,” Rik said. “But back then I could not afford it because I didn’t have insurance, so I just rehabbed it myself and I got better.”
Damage to the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments prematurely ended Misiura’s athletic career at the College, but taking a proactive role in his own rehabilitation became the foundation for a career path that winds all the way to New York City, where he founded Central Park Physical Therapy in Manhattan.
“That injury was the reason I became interested in physical therapy,” he said. “It changed my life.”
And, consequently, the lives of his three sons.
Austin ’09, Chase ’10, and Dean Misiura ’11 all played together at TCNJ in 2007 and 2008, marking the first time in the 33-year career of Head Coach Eric Hamilton ’75 that he fielded three brothers—wearing numbers 1, 2, and 3 nonetheless—at the same time.
“The seeds were planted with Rik, and it’s obvious his kids all know what it takes to compete in intercollegiate athletics,” Hamilton said. “Because they had that base, they knew what it was going to take to be successful both on the field and in the classroom.”
Not only did Rik’s sons helped cement the family legacy within the Lions’ football program, each majored in exercise science with designs on a career in physical therapy.
Like father, like sons.
“Whenever I got hurt he would show me what to do to feel better,” said Chase, a senior running back with his sights set on medical school with a concentration in osteopathic medicine. “That made me think about what I wanted to do with my life, and the chance to help people and work with the human body would allow me to have a job where I can go home at the end of the day and feel really good about myself.”
Austin and Chase each took the circuitous route to the College, with Austin transferring following just one semester at East Stroudsburg University to join the Lions as a backup wide receiver and special teams performer.
“When you combine the academics and the competition level of football, TCNJ was just a better fit,” said Austin, currently enrolled in the post-graduate physical therapy program at the University of Miami. “This was always the best place for me, and it turned out my brothers all felt the same way.”
Chase, meanwhile, chose Kean University after graduating from Holmdel High School. He played running back and special teams for the Cougars as a freshman before his transfer.
“Academically, (Kean) just was not challenging enough,” he said. “I applied to TCNJ, but I did not get in until the following semester and when I did, I made the switch.’’
Chase and Austin even lined up against each other when the two teams met in 2006. “I had a chance to really take him out on a punt return because he was looking the other way,” Chase said of his brother. “I don’t know what stopped me, but I know my mom (Kristeen) probably would not have been too happy.”
With Chase joining Austin at the College, younger brother Dean, then a senior defensive back at Holmdel, may have had the easiest decision of them all.
“I only applied to a few other schools because this is where I wanted to be,” Dean said. “We have always been together, and have always played together, so the three of us on the same team was nothing new to us. But when I step back now I can see that it is a pretty special thing, especially since my dad played here. I have to admit it is a little strange thinking about him going here, because the school itself and everything else is so different now.”
Come November, Dean will be the lone remaining link to a Misiura family tradition of football at the College that dates back more than three decades. However, their days of working together may be far from over, and it will not be long before younger sister Alana, 16, begins charting her course.
Just to be safe, Rik may want to start adding office space at Central Park Physical Therapy.
“If it works out with everyone’s career the way we all hope, we’d love to just keep the whole family thing going on,” Dean said. “Now, that would be really special.
Posted on November 4, 2009