“This rapacin’s great-grandfather was my brother.” In one of Ranón’s houses they are more focused than ever on football. But not the one that everyone knows, the one played by Sporting or Oviedo, but the American-style “football”, the one played with a helmet and shoulder pads. And one of the fashionable names in the NFL, the main American football league and one of the sports competitions that generates the most money in the world, has its origins in Asturias. Jake Ferguson, tight end of the Dallas Cowboys, wore a Spanish flag on his helmet in one of his last games. The reason is hidden in a home in the town of Sotobarquense.
“The player’s great-great-grandfather and great-grandmother emigrated to the United States around 1916. They were my parents,” says Luchi Álvarez, Ferguson’s great-great-aunt. There, in the United States, his parents had all their children, but, after the New York stock market crash of ’29, they decided to pack their bags and return to their homeland. “Just when the stock market thing happened, they were about to buy a house here, but they had to stay there longer to make some money again and come to Asturias,” explains Álvarez.
They came to Ranón with their entire family, but two of them decided to return to America. Antonio, Ferguson’s great-grandfather, moved in circles similar to the left and, when the Civil War broke out in Spain, he spent time captured by his political ideas and decided to embark and never return. “Luis, one of his brothers, helped him so he could leave. They told him that if he wanted he could come back, that they had a job for him, but after going to jail he didn’t want to know more,” recalls Álvarez.
After marrying, Antonio had a son: Barry Álvarez. And with him the family’s link with American football was born. He is now retired, but before hanging up the board he became a true legend of the benches at the University of Wisconsin, where he was coach and director of the athletic department. “The last time he was here was in 2005. He came with a power of attorney to settle inheritance issues, because Antonio, of course, had part of what my parents had left. He didn’t want anything, but he had to come so he could solve it. He was here two or three times, to meet us,” says Álvarez. Despite the distance, from Ranón they remain very close to their American family. “Jake’s father and his aunt, Stacy, were in Spain,” he notes.
Dolores, Luchi’s daughter, takes out her cell phone and shows her Facebook, where she follows everything Jake Ferguson does. “We don’t know much about American football, but we like to keep an eye on what he does and know how he’s doing,” says the Sotobarquense.
During the last few days, his name has been more present than ever in the Bajo Nalón, because, in addition to wearing the Spanish flag on his helmet, the player himself has acknowledged that he would like to know his Spanish roots, which would translate into a Visit Ranón. “We are delighted. I hope he stops by and we can meet him,” they both say. Now we have to wait for Ferguson to pack his bags and see first-hand where it all started. The hospitality of “los del Casero” is guaranteed.
2023-12-15 03:01:00
#piece #Ranón #NFL
