ACHIEVING A DREAM

MALIK FISHER ’17

BY ERIC KREBS ’17

“A tree gives glory to God by being a tree,” wrote the 20th-century theologian Thomas Merton. Pines, oaks, willows, these things cannot stray from their selfevident, God-given purpose: to stand tall and cast shade.

But, for people, the path to actualization—to one’s “true self”— is not so obvious. “Our vocation is not simply to be,” Merton wrote, “but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny.”

When he was 7 years old, Malik Fisher ’17 found himself, for the first time, on a football field.

He took to the game immediately, and when it came time to graduate from the Brooklyn Titans, Fisher followed in the footsteps of his coach Bill Solomon’s son, Tre Solomon ’14, from Bed-Stuy to 16th Street. After four years with the Xavier Knights, Fisher was recruited to play NCAA Division I football at Villanova University. From there, he graduated from the NCAA to the New Orleans Saints training camp as a free agent. His ultimate goal: a draft ticket to the NFL.

Training camp ended, and Fisher’s ticket never came. At 23, his lifelong dream came to what seemed to be an end. “At Xavier, at Villanova, with my family at home, I’m the football player,” said Fisher. “Then, being removed from that space … it was a big learning experience.”

In June of 2022, Fisher returned home to Brooklyn. He began working for a sports management company, helping college athletes secure “image and likeness” deals. He also took up work with his father, Rawle, delivering and installing home appliances.

It was there, on a job with his father, when Fisher received a call that would revive his dream—and change his life. A representative from the XFL, a junior-league companion to the NFL, had seen his highlight reel from training camp. He wanted Fisher to play for the league.

“I felt like I hadn’t become the best player—and the best person— that I could possibly be,” said Fisher. “Football has been such an instrumental part of who I am as a person. I just couldn’t let it go.”

Fisher accepted the offer. But, having signed a contract with the XFL’s Washington Defenders starting in January, one major roadblock remained in his path: a tear in the labrum of his left shoulder. The recovery would be difficult, but Fisher knew that if he wanted to continue his football career, to really give it his all, he could have nothing holding him back.

With less than six months to go from sling to stadium, Fisher got to work. He enrolled in physical therapy at MOTION Sports Medicine, working with physical therapist Kevin Murtagh ’09, a fellow Xavier alum. “One of the first things I determined about Malik from meeting him was that he had a plan,” said Murtagh. “He has a drive, and he puts that out there.”

After physical therapy, Fisher would travel to Pier 40 at Hudson River Park, where, rain or shine, he’d run drills on his own. After that, he’d travel back downtown to 16th Street for weight training in Xavier’s weight room, just as he had done during his college breaks. “I had reached out to Xavier and asked if there was any way I could come in, and they were more than willing to help,” said Fisher.

In the weight room, Fisher interacted with many current Xavier athletes. “Malik is kind of a legend,” says Ratu Delano Navoti ’24, a varsity Knight with college football prospects who, like Fisher, had to come back from an injury. “He just offered his number and was like, if you ever need help, reach out. He’s really been one of my mentors.”

For Fisher, the encouragement was mutual. “Showing up at

Xavier, being able to consistently go somewhere and see familiar faces, that was big for me,” he said. “I was at an in-between. I was training for something but wasn’t there yet, so I didn’t have a team around me. You can get lost.”

Toward the end of his months of training, Fisher took to finishing his workouts with one last exercise. “I started building a habit of doing meditations and affirmations. I’d let my mind freely move and really open up,” said Fisher.

Through meditation, Fisher realized the value of the challenge he faced, the pain and beauty of self-actualization. “At Xavier, I used to joke around with Mr. Raslowsky. He called me the happiest man in America because I always walked around with a smile,” he said. “I just try to think deeply and appreciate things, to see the silver lining.”

Now several months into his XFL career, Fisher looks back on his months of grueling recovery positively. “The journey and the work I put in to get here was the biggest stage of my growing journey. When I was in limbo, when I wasn’t playing, I learned the most about myself. I was able to challenge myself, to prove something that I couldn’t before,” he said. “It gave me the opportunity to look deeper inside myself.”

Management Group (AMG). AMG is a student-run derivative paper portfolio fund that allows students of all backgrounds to learn and refine the knowledge and skills necessary to obtain internships and full-time positions on Wall Street and at other financial institutions.

Emmet Gregory just finished his third year of a six-year medical school program in Dublin, Ireland. “Emmet wanted to pursue a premed degree but when he was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland he knew he had to jump at the opportunity,” writes his mom, Kristin. “The school is very demanding, but Emmet is happy pursuing his dream and surrounded by a group of interesting and supportive students from around the world.” Gregory would like to specialize in neurology and welcomes the chance to network with alumni over the summer. He can be reached at robertgregory20@rcsi.ie.

2021

Rugby alumni from the Class of 2021—Robert Betsais (Fairfield University), Damian Huggins (Syracuse University), Gerry Lanning (Iona University), Nolan McCaffrey (Iona University), and Dilyn McHugh (Northeastern University)—reunited on the pitch in the spring of 2022, competing in a 7s tournament at Stony Brook University. “All the boys credit the rugby experience they had at Xavier with allowing them to play at the next level,” writes Betsais’ mom, Courtney Nash.

Last summer, Samuel Goldenstein studied abroad at Estonia’s Tallinn University of Technology, where he took classes such as “Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States” and “Cybersecurity and the Baltic Region.”

2022

Nick Bruno just finished his freshman year at Penn State, where he plays rugby and won rookie of the year honors. He attributes his college success to Coach Norris, Coach Bailey, Coach Sweeney, and Coach DeFalco.

Leonardo Mannino recently finished his freshman year at Fordham University, where he studies in the Gabelli School of Business. He is a member of Fordham’s rugby team.

Giuseppe Quatela thanks Xavier for the best four years of his life. “I will take all the lessons I have learned with me every step of the way and never forget the brothers who shaped my experience,” he writes. “Keep marching!”

Antonios Drossos writes that he now works with Frostline Air and Building Solutions— an HVAC service and mechanical company that specializes in commercial buildings and provides state-of-the-art mechanical solutions to its clients.