Since former Gophers slotback Tony Levine graduated from the University on June 3, he has been like a newborn puppy, sniffing out every opportunity that comes his way.
And, for Levine, who by December will have had four very different jobs, the glory of it all is that he refuses to settle into the traditional life after college.
First he secured a spot on the Minnesota Pike arena football team as a receiver. The only problem is that the team is done playing after this Saturday’s trip to Memphis, so Levine found another job.
He landed a position with a Texas-based marketing firm called Street Sports Inc. and immediately became the Minnesota event coordinator for a 4-on-4 flag football tournament, which will take place in 30 U.S. cities. But Levine’s work will be done after the event finishes Oct. 13, so he kept on looking for more to do.
Levine then accepted a job from his former high school football coach, who asked him to serve as the new receivers coach for Highland Park (St. Paul). That position, however, only lasts until the end of October. So in December, Levine will revert to the job he fell in love with six years ago: refereeing basketball for metro area high schools and Division III colleges.
Levine has flirted with exciting jobs during the past seven months and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
With all his past explorations and the many that await him in the next few months, Levine has kept himself very busy. Although he admits he leads an awkward life, the monotonous structure of an everyday job just doesn’t appeal to him.
“I am a person who has to enjoy my work,” Levine said. “I enjoy playing for the Pike and I enjoy refereeing. I’m just not a suit-and-tie kind of guy. I’m only 23 years old and I don’t feel like I need to get into a routine.”
As event coordinator for the 4-on-4 flag football tournament in Minnesota, Levine’s duties include spreading the word and getting teams to sign up for the event. His job is quite different from struggling to get open on a football field.
Levine qualified for the position with his unique football ties in Minnesota. The kinesiology major has played high school, college and professional football in the state, as well as officiated, coached and dealt with the local media on a regular basis. His ties stretch throughout the state and involve thousands of people.
His one-year internships with the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Timberwolves also helped him land the job.
Levine was in Green Bay, Wis., on Saturday watching 450 teams and more than 5,000 men and women participate in a 4-on-4 tournament to help him better plan for Minnesota’s event. He said about 900 teams competed in Omaha, Neb., but he couldn’t predict how many people would show up at Minnesota’s first tournament.
The two-day event includes a speed contest, a quarterback challenge and a game that invites contestants to kick field goals. The same tournament will hit the Fort Snelling Polo Grounds on Oct. 12-13.
The winner of the Top Gun category (the best of four skill levels) will earn a trip to Orlando, Fla., for the NFL Air-It-Out national finals.
The tournament has kept Levine busy for the past couple of months and will continue to do so until November, when he plans on traveling a little before his refereeing job starts.
Levine doesn’t know what he’ll do after he finishes refereeing early next year, but he doesn’t mind. He began at Minnesota and he’ll stay here. He may attend graduate school at the University in the fall.
But that’s just another decision yet to be made as this pup fights adulthood after college graduation.