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Sam Salz
Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
Courtesy of Sam Salz
S am Salz is meticulous in matching his
kippah to his football uniform: The white
and burgundy of the head covering matches
his Texas A&M football jersey and makes it easily visible to a crowd,
he said.

In a Nov. 26 primetime television broadcast, Salz can be easily
recognized by his kippah as he jumps up and down and waves his
arms, a victory dance celebrating an Aggies home win against the
Louisiana State University Tigers.

The 20-year-old sophomore and running back from South
Philadelphia plays with No. 39 on his jersey, representing lamed tet
melachot, the 39 categories of work forbidden on Shabbat.

Salz refuses to play on the Sabbath and is an active member of the Texas
A&M Chabad. After joining the Aggies as a walk-on in October, Salz, with
his coaches’ permission, missed the first practice with the team to observe
Yom Kippur. He’s the second-ever Shabbat-observant NCAA Division I
football player.

“It’s a good reminder to all the other
young Jewish kids who are into sports,
who want to play at a high competitive
level, that they don’t have to compro-
mise on being who they are,” Salz said.

Despite attending a Division I school
with a 128-year-old football program,
Salz began his journey to the sport
about a year ago.

On Oct. 16, 2021, Salz took a trip
to New York with Chabad and talked
to a friend about training to join the
football team. He said that when he
brought up the idea to a stranger on
the subway and received their approval,
that sealed the deal for Salz. He began
training when he returned home.

“I would do lots of sprints, lots of
running,” Salz said. “I would do like
2½ to three hours in the gym a day, and
then I would do about an hour-and-a-
half to two hours in the field a day.”
When Salz wasn’t running sprints
or completing agility training, he was
teaching himself the
rules of football, a
sport he had always
enjoyed, and meet-
ing with the team’s
coaches, who let
him join the team
of 130 players, 85 of
whom were scholar-
ship players.

While attending
Kohelet Yeshiva
High School in
Merion Station,
there was no foot-
ball team, Salz
said. As the time to
apply for colleges
approached, Salz
was interested in
Texas A&M for its tight-knit commu-
nity, strong alumni network and cul-
ture of football fanaticism.

Growing up attending B’nai
Abraham Chabad in Center City, Salz
enjoyed a hamish community, wanting
to find that same warmth wherever
he chose to matriculate. Texas A&M’s
Chabad, led by Rabbi Yossi Lazaroff,
felt like what Salz was looking for.

“It’s a very, very warm community;
everyone kind of knows everyone,” Salz
said of B’nai Abraham Chabad. “And
A&M is very similar to that.”
Lazaroff sees Salz every day at morn-
ing prayers, Torah classes and Friday
night dinners. For the past 18 months,
he’s provided support for Salz, one of
about 60-90 Jewish students at Chabad.

Despite being one of the largest col-
leges in the country composed of more
than 56,000 undergraduates, Texas
A&M’s Jewish population is small,
Lazaroff said. Though Salz believes he
hasn’t encountered any challenges bal-
ancing his Jewish identity with his role
on the football field, Lazaroff said it’s
not always easy being a minority.

Lazaroff remembers Salz having con-
cerns about making compromises to
his Judaism to pursue football.

“It’s been very beautiful to see some-
one like him saying, ‘I’m not going on
the field on Shabbos.’ ... He’s not look-
ing to bend the rules; he’s looking to
play by the rules,” Lazaroff said.

Though pursuing a degree in eco-
nomics with an interest in real estate,
Salz still believes there’s a chance he
could become a professional athlete.

His next step is to play in a game,
competing for one of 11 spots on the
field with 129 other athletes, including
about 45 other walk-ons.

“I’m doing everything I can to com-
pete, to make it to that position,” he said.

As a backup plan, Salz is interested in
rabbinical school, using his experience
navigating being a shomer Shabbos
Jew and D1 athlete to relate to young
people. “There needs to be a rabbi for every
generation,” Salz said.

“It’s very important that we have
rabbis who care about law, are knowl-
edgeable and present Judaism well, as
well as who can relate to students or
assist students, Jewish kids, anyone
who’s asking, in a way that you can
relate to,” Salz continued.

For Salz, the evolution of his identity
as a football player is intertwined with
his evolution as a Jewish person, he
said. If he were to select becoming a
rabbi from the many goals he strives
toward, he would teach a young Jewish
generation informed by the lessons he
learned on the field.

“You can’t separate the Judaism from
the football,” he said. JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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