Andre Cisco Q&A: Newsday goes 1-on-1 with Jets safety from Long Island
Jets safety Andre Cisco stretches during training camp at the Atlantic Health Training Center on Aug. 7 in Florham Park, N.J. Credit: Corey Sipkin
Andre Cisco is from Valley Stream and attended St. Anthony’s High School for two years before transferring to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Cisco went to Syracuse and played four seasons with Jacksonville. In the spring, the safety signed a one-year deal with the Jets, his favorite team growing up. Cisco sat down with Newsday and discussed living on Long Island and what it means to play for the Jets.
How does it feel to be back in the area?
"It means the world to me. I've always still been attached to New York even when I've been gone, whether it's Syracuse or in Jacksonville. I've always on my bye weeks come to New York. That was the most refreshing thing I could do. Just something about the New York air being near home that has a close place to my heart."
What made you pick the Jets during free agency?
"There were other teams interested. The chips ended up falling where it wasn’t a tough decision for me in the end. I felt like it was the best fit here."
Why was this the best fit?
"You look at the roster, the guys I was going to be playing alongside as I did my research through the free agency process. Just knowing that a foundation was here, defensively. And that Aaron Glenn and [defensive coordinator] Steve Wilks and just the staff that they brought in aligned well."
Your mom took you to fan events at MetLife Stadium. Is that how you became a Jets fan?
"I was a Jets fan probably a little bit before that. Just being from New York, that was the team I gravitated toward, and they had those years of success [2009 and 2010]. The Giants were never for me, so I was a Jets guy."
What’s it like to be playing for the Jets now?
"It's a story that only God could write. I’m really, really thankful because not a lot of people where I’m from have gotten the chance to go to the NFL, let alone play for the hometown team. So I understand that privilege and it's an honor, and I want to carry it the right way."
How was it growing up on Long Island?
"I had a great childhood. Valley Stream specifically is in a nice location where Queens and the rest of Long Island is adjacent. So we had an interesting dynamic, just diverse group, a lot of fun. A lot of my best friends are from Long Island."
Was there a spot you used to go to?
"My house was the chill spot. So my home in Valley Stream. I still kept it for a few years up until the NFL and then recently transitioned to doing some real estate with it, but like my home, that was our oasis. All the guys would just come over, sleepovers, five, six people. And my mom, she was lighthearted with it. So that was honestly probably the number one spot we chilled."
You left for IMG Academy when you were 16. Was it difficult leaving and what led to that?
"It was tough. My mom was the head of that move. She just saw an opportunity that was hard to turn down. For myself, I wasn't interested as much as she was. I was open to the idea but leaving my friends, you're going into 11th and 12th grade. That's when high school becomes high school. So I was becoming more attached to my friends and what I knew in New York. So it was a tough, tough choice, but probably the best time for it."
What did you get from being at IMG?
"That's when I knew the NFL was an option for me. You have a dream and then it becomes a little bit more like, OK, I could see a six-, seven-year plan where I end up in the NFL if I continue to focus, and if I get to the right school and just align myself. I saw the benefits and I saw the possibilities."
Your mom is in Georgia now. Do you have any family still here?
"Yeah, my family is in Jersey City, Orange, Woodbridge. So I have some cousins in the area. They've lived in Jersey pretty much my whole life. So some family that's 20, 25 minutes from me now."
You held a camp in Valley Stream the past two years. Will you continue that?
Jets safety Andre Cisco talks with Earl Middleton, 14, of Valley Stream about technique during passing and defending drills while at training camp at Valley Stream Memorial Junior High School on July 12. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
"Yeah, it’s definitely going to continue. I love my hometown and over the years, you get further and further away from your roots just because you're bouncing around team to team and you're so busy. And so that's my one time where I know I can pour into people and make it known that I'm around and whether you want to come play football or not, just shake hands and chop it up. There's people I see, like parents that were my team moms or team dads. I shake those hands and it's like it was yesterday."
Knowing the Jets’ history, what would it mean for you to help them reach the playoffs?
"It's more personal than it's been for me in my career. Just being here, and my attachment to the team, to the organization, to the area. It just means a little bit more."
You signed a one-year deal. Do you hope to prove to the Jets that you can be part of the future?
"The biggest thing about the NFL that I've learned is being in the right place at the right time. So that's what I want the most is just continue to be in the right place at the right time. This year, I feel like I’m in the right place at the right time. So that's what's most important."
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
