There’s a reason Amherst refers to its athletes as “student athletes,” rather than the reverse, and it’s not just because they like to emphasize the education portion of the title. Amherst athletes, while talented, rarely aspire to careers in professional sports—at least past their 10th birthdays. Amherst players, in fact, are far more likely to become doctors or lawyers or investment bankers than they are to ever make it in professional sports.
In recent years, according to an article from the Amherst College Sports Information Department, this has begun to change, albeit slowly. In 1977, Head Basketball Coach Dave Hixon sent his first players overseas; already, five members of the Class of 2008 (Andrew Olson, Kevin Hopkins, Fletcher Walters, Matt Goldsmith and Brandon Jones) have signed to play professionally in Europe.
This success is no longer confined to basketball players, as three young alumni, Derek Cherney ’07 (a former Amherst lacrosse star), Mike Salerno ’07 (a safety turned wide receiver) and Brendan McKee ’07 (a defensive lineman turned linebacker), recently completed their first seasons of professional play.
At first glance, Cherney’s life resembles that of many of his fellow classmates, as he holds a full-time job as a financial analyst at the CIT Group in New York City. A closer look, however, reveals that the 23-year-old’s life is anything but normal for an Amherst graduate, thanks to his just having completed his first full season with the Washington Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse.
Fewer than a dozen Div. III players have been drafted into MLL, and Cherney is one of only three NESCAC alumni to make it in the league as a regular player. In his rookie year, he totaled 13 goals and five assists for the Bayhawks, placing him sixth in scoring on the team.
Salerno, who played for the Amherst basketball team in addition to the football team, spent last season playing for the Vikings of Vienna, a perennial powerhouse in Europe’s top professional football league. Though he played safety for the Lord Jeffs, Salerno moved to the offensive side of the ball for the Vikings, seeing time at both wide receiver and quarterback.
McKee played for the Danube Dragons, also in Vienna, and saw most of his playing time at linebacker. Though the position was new for him, he averaged nearly a sack per game.
While the NFL may not be in there sights, Salerno and McKee, along with the other Amherst alumni playing professionally, are doing something most Div. III athletes only dream of: they’re getting paid to play.