By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes have a long tradition of homegrown talent showcasing itself on the football field.
Canes legends like Michael Irvin, Sean Taylor, Jonathan Vilma, Santana Moss and Bennie Blades are just a handful of South Florida natives who shined while donning Miami’s orange and green.
Each week in the 2014 season, HurricaneSports.com will honor a Hurricane football player with South Florida ties as the Milam’s Market Homegrown Athlete of the Week. This week’s player spotlight is on Davie, Fla., native Jon Feliciano.
Jon Feliciano is one of the proudest players to ever wear a Miami football uniform.
The Davie, Fla., native grew up a huge fan of the Hurricanes and always dreamed of one day donning the orange and green uniform like his favorite player, Warren Sapp, did.
“I remember being young and I would always wear my Ray Lewis Ravens jersey,” Feliciano said. “I wanted to be just like him. In high school, I wore 76 because of Warren Sapp and my first few years I played defensive tackle like him. I moved to left tackle, but I kept 76. It was always a big thing for me to come here and play for ‘The U’ and represent Miami the right way.”
The 6-foot-5 offensive lineman did not start playing football until the ninth grade, originally preferring the hardwood floors of basketball over the gridiron. But once Feliciano put his pads on, he was hooked.
“When I started playing football, I really wanted to come to Miami to play tight end,” Feliciano said. “That was my goal my whole life. I had a lot of small schools looking at me and then Miami offered and I committed on the spot. Then a bunch of other big schools started coming after me, but I didn’t give them a chance. I knew this was where I wanted to go and now I’m here playing left guard. It was the best decision of my life.”
An All-Broward selection as a senior at Davie’s Western High School, Feliciano was a three-star recruit that received attention from several quality programs.
Despite getting offers from in-state rival Florida State and SEC programs South Carolina, Tennessee and Ole Miss, Feliciano chose to stay close to home and play for the Hurricanes.
His decision to join the Canes has been beneficial for Feliciano and the Miami football program.
After redshirting in 2010, Feliciano emerged as a key cog in Miami’s offensive line in 2011. He played in 10 games as a redshirt freshman, making eight starts and not allowing a sack while grading out at 84 percent for the year.
In 2012, Feliciano was a fixture on Miami’s offensive line that helped the Hurricanes rank third in the ACC in passing offense (295.4 yards/game) and fifth in total offense (440.2 ypg). The redshirt sophomore started all 12 games at left guard, earning All-ACC honorable mention accolades.
A year ago, Feliciano started all 13 games along the offensive line, making 11 starts at left guard and two starts at right tackle. He was an honorable mention All-ACC selection by the ACSMA and helped anchor an offensive line that paved the way for a Hurricanes offense that averaged 425.8 yards of total offense and 33.8 points per game.
A redshirt senior, Feliciano has accomplished a lot in his college career. But the standout lineman’s proudest moment did not occur on a football field.
“It’s big time for me,” Feliciano said about earning his bachelor’s degree in management. “I’m the first person in my family to graduate from college and to do it at such a prestigious place like Miami, I am really proud of that. I’m also really grateful for all the help I had along the way.”