Chris Gocong

It’s a long, long way from Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium to the NFL.

Chris Gocong put in the work and made his way down that long, difficult road to reach the big time. He played seven years in the NFL as a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cleveland Browns.

A quarterback and linebacker for the Warriors, Gocong made Carpinteria proud when he was taken by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft. After missing the ’06 season due to an injury, he made his debut on Sept. 9, 2007. He played three seasons with the Eagles before being traded to Cleveland. He ended his career with the Browns in 2012 after rupturing his Achilles tendon.

Gocong was a force on the field and in the weight room at Carpinteria.

“Chris’s natural strength and explosiveness were phenomenal,” said Carpinteria assistant football coach and head track coach Van Latham. “Our weight room has never seen the amount of weight moved as when Chris and teammate Noah Bryant were here. It was a treat.”

Gocong earned All-CIF honors in football and track in 2000 and 2001 and was named All-State in football in 2001.

He won a CIF-Southern Section title in the discus.

“With Chris’s strength and explosiveness, throwing heavy objects was also a natural for him. He didn’t start throwing until his sophomore year, but it was only a year later he became a CIF champion,” said Latham.

He played college football at Cal Poly and developed into an outstanding defensive player. In 2005, he was named a unanimous All-American and was recipient of the Buck Buchanan Award as college football’s best I-AA defensive player. In his college career, he recorded 212 tackles and set a NCAA career-record with 42 sacks for minus 284 yards. His 61.5 stops for losses of 330 yards rank fourth in Division 1-AA history.

Next stop, the NFL.

“His ability to combine his great athletic ability and work ethic to maximize his potential and reach the highest level of sport is very gratifying as a coach,” Latham said. “It is a rare combination. You often get athletes who possess one or the other of these qualities but not both the way Chris did. It is also very satisfying that he graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in engineering.”

Gocong resides in Carpinteria with his wife, Amanda, and daughter, Layla.