Rock Falls senior Vinnie Lombardo wore jersey No. 55 in honor of Brock Parker: ‘It meant a lot’

ROCK FALLS – Rock Falls senior wide receiver and linebacker Vinnie Lombardo is everything head coach Kevin Parker said he looks for in one of his players.

He’s a leader by example on the field, in the weight room and at practice. He can play a variety of positions. He’ll play anywhere he’s asked without hesitation. He’ll even volunteer to move to a new position if a teammate gets hurt and the position needs to be filled.

If a teammate needs a ride to practice, or if Parker forgets something at the school and needs it picked up, Lombardo is ready and willing to help out. All around, he’s just a great teammate.

Lombardo’s work ethic is unmatched and he has the most weight room attendance points on the team, by far.

“I can’t ask for anything more as a leader. It’s difficult to be a verbal leader as a teenager, which I was not myself, but the one thing we ask is for kids to lead by example,” Parker said. “We’ve got a lot of young talent in this program, even through our middle school grades, and we want those kids to see the way you’re supposed to do it. Before we can succeed, we have to have kids value things like working hard and discipline and showing up every single day on time and working a full day. If we’re going to move up in this conference, we have to get better at those things, and Vinnie just embodied that.”

After seeing the way Lombardo has conducted himself over the past few years, Parker felt comfortable bestowing jersey No. 55 upon him for the Week 2 home game vs. Stillman Valley on Aug. 31.

It meant a lot. It’s my fourth year here, my senior year, and I just want to show Rock Falls that it’s good to have heart on the field and take after someone like Brock. Brock probably had the most heart at practice and in the only games he played, but I just worked as hard as I could to show the town what a heart Brock had.

—  Rock Falls senior Vinnie Lombardo

That jersey number has great significance, especially to Parker, because it previously was worn by his son, Brock, a former Rock Falls football player who tragically passed away at age 18 on Sept. 24, 2021, from injuries suffered in an automobile accident.

For Lombardo, a four-year varsity player and two-year starter, it was an honor to wear his former teammate’s number. Although they weren’t teammates very long, Brock Parker left a strong impression on Lombardo.

“It meant a lot. It’s my fourth year here, my senior year, and I just want to show Rock Falls that it’s good to have heart on the field and take after someone like Brock,” Lombardo said. “Brock probably had the most heart at practice and in the only games he played, but I just worked as hard as I could to show the town what a heart Brock had.”

Week 2 of 2021 was the only Rock Falls home game Brock Parker was able to play in. He played his first three years of high school football at Geneseo, following in the footsteps of his dad. For Kevin Parker, that added an extra level of meaning for the honorary number change.

“I pick a person that I think embodies Brock’s spirit the most. One thing that I remember, I think that kids saw when Brock was here – and he wasn’t here a long period of time – he had IBS, where he’s got an internal stomach issue and he would vomit at times,” Parker said. “I remember us being on the sled, and he’d puke. And we’d have a line on the sled, and he wouldn’t miss his next turn. I think the kids saw that, and Vinnie saw that.”

From the time he became a starter last season, Lombardo has been invaluable to the Rockets. At the end of 2022, he stepped in as the starting quarterback. This season, in Week 1 against Byron, he jumped in at center mid-game after a teammate’s injury. Lombardo also has played guard, long snapper, punter and been on every special teams unit. He’s even kicked extra points.

But his value to the team goes beyond his positional versatility and selfless, team-first mindset. The example he sets on and off the field shows the younger players in the program how to be successful in football and in life.

“He was our starting quarterback at the end of the year last year, and then he started Week 2 at center just because we needed somebody. Actually, in the middle of a game, Week 1 against Byron when we had some kids getting hurt, Vinnie says, ‘Coach, I’ll play center,’ ” Parker said. “He was willing to jump in right then and there. And other kids see that. That is very valuable, not only to where we need to fill a position but kids see him doing that. To go from quarterback and flip around to being a center, that’s a big thing. That’s a big deal.

“And it is putting away the things maybe that you dream of doing or the things that you want to do and being more of a workman and doing what the team needs from you, and that is invaluable. I wish we had 20 Vinnies. I don’t care how strong or fast they are, if we have a handful of kids like that I know I’m going to love that season.”

Lombardo said he enjoys the challenge of playing different positions and seeing the field from different perspectives. For him, being versatile is a point of pride. Helping the team win in any way he can is his top priority.

“I take pride in being versatile. Whatever the team needs, I’m there for,” Lombardo said. “It’s fun to see all the sides of the field, what everyone else has to go through and how to work hard at different positions. If you have football knowledge and you know what’s going on on the field, it’s not really hard to adapt. It’s just how you adapt in the game, like with different physicality of different teams we face and stuff like that.”