University of Tennessee Athletics
Former Vols Captain LaSorsa Dead at 77
December 28, 2011 | Football
Funeral services were Wednesday morning for Mike LaSorsa, a Korean War vet who came to Tennessee as a walk-on football player and finished his career as captain of the 1960 team.
LaSorsa died Saturday at his Knoxville home after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 77 years old.
LaSorsa was a three-year starter at left end (1958-60), playing at 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, and wearing No. 81 on his orange and white jersey. He was 25 years old his senior season in Knoxville.
"We've been the best of friends over the years," said teammate Lon Herzbrun, who played at Tennessee from 1955-57. "He was a very competitive and caring person. We coached together at Fulton High School and played together on the Knoxville Bears. I never had an argument with him."
LaSorsa was a native of Hudson Falls, N.Y., who attended Providence (R. I.) Central High. He was "discovered" while in the Army by former Vols Bill "Moose" Barbish and Jimmy Hahn.
He arrived on campus as a freshman in 1956 behind 125 scholarship players, giving up a job in Providence unloading 100-pound bags of cement out of boxcars. He had no idea what to expect, except that we was looking for a coach named Ralph Chancey.
LaSorsa redshirted in 1957, continued his climb up the depth chart, and finished his time at UT as a third-team All-SEC selection in 1960. One of his most memorable moments came when he returned a fumble 40 yards for a score in the 1960 Alabama game, highlighting a 20-7 Vol victory.He also caught a TD pass in the 1958 Vanderbilt game from tailback Bill Majors, giving the Vols a 10-6 victory over the No. 15-ranked Commodores and knocking them out of a Gator Bowl trip. He caught 16 passes during his career for 162 yards and one score.
LaSorsa joins J.J. McCleskey (1992) and Nick Reveiz (2009-10) as walk-ons who made it to team captain's status.
After leaving the university, LaSorsa went on to a 33-year teaching career at Knoxville's Fulton, South-Young, and South-Doyle high schools, teaching geography, health and driver's education. He also coached golf and baseball, and started the Fulton High Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Chapter.
When a fight broke out on Shields-Watkins Field during the 1962 Ole Miss game, nearly two years after his last game as a Vol, LaSorsa went wading into the fray brandishing an umbrella.
That's competitive, emblematic of his never-say-die spirit.
Story courtesy Tom Mattingly, Knoxville News Sentinel contributor.
