Vieira's story has happy ending
Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com
Although Bruce Vieira helped the Pelham High School football program win two state championships, his most memorable time in high school may have come in the early months of 2009.
Vieira spent much of the current year scrambling to find a place to play college football. He initially hoped to play at Marist, then shifted to the University of New Hampshire, prep school, Merrimack College and Assumption, before he found a home at Division III Curry College.
"It was a huge roller coaster ride," Vieira explained. "Very stressful for me."
Vieira, a 5-foot-7, 175-pound running back/defensive back, said he was sure he would play for Marist until about a week before National Signing Day in February.
"That's when the head coach (Jim Parady) told me he was reading my SAT scores wrong," Vieira said. "UNH wanted to me walk-on, but UNH couldn't get me in school. Then I was looking at prep schools. The UNH coaches were really helpful and made some calls for me."
Vieira rushed for 3,957 yards and scored 78 touchdowns in his high school career. Pelham won the Division V championship in 2007 and 2008. He gained 1,205 yards and scored 22 TDs last season, when Pelham capped its season by beating St. Thomas, 22-0, in the title game. Vieira accounted for all of the scoring in that contest, which stretched Pelham's winning streak to 22 games.
Vieira played multiple offensive positions -- including quarterback -- for the Pythons, and said he isn't sure what position he'll play in college.
"Wherever they put me I'll play," Vieira said. "For me it's wherever I can get on the field."
Vieira said everything with Curry was finalized in late April.
"There were points when I wanted to call it quits," he said. "Curry's a really good school in a good conference (the New England Football Conference). Everything worked out for the best, really."
