Tom Cillo continues to make history. The 58-year-old defensive lineman for Lycoming College is not only one of the oldest college football players of all time, but he is also now the oldest player to ever sign an NIL deal.
Cillo recently signed an NIL deal that is fitting for someone playing college football at nearly 60 years old as he signed an agreement with Aspercreme — a pain creme that offers “relief from everyday aches and pains.”
Tom Cillo and Aspercreme announced the deal a few days back.
“You lose something when you age. The ability to give a damn about what anybody else thinks,” the ad on Instagram says.
Cillo is suiting up for the Warriors this season as a 6-foot, 227-pound defensive lineman.
Lycoming College, a Division III school in Williamsport, Pa., competes in the Landmark Conference. The team is off to an 0-4 start to the year. Cillo has yet to appear in a game.
A Williamsport native, Cillo grew up playing sports and is athletic. He has completed half-marathons and competed in power lifting competitions, according to the Williamsport Sun-Gazette.
Now, he is trying his hand at college football, at the age where most people are starting to consider retirement.
“I thought, I’m going to give this a shot and I’m going to write the script,’“ Cillo told WNEP TV before the season. “I’m not going to let somebody talk me out of this or self-doubt pull me back.”
Cillo never attended college, and after raising a family decided he wanted to play college football.
He reached out to Lycoming College head football coach Mike Clark and is now getting that opportunity.
“I mean, it is a little bit crazy, but there’s instant credibility in his weight room habits, his discipline, all the little things that we struggled with maybe in the past, he can do, or he does,” Clark told WNEP TV. “And I thought that would be good for our team.”