Community Corner

Legislature Honors Superbowl Winning Rookie

Green Bay Packer player Andrew Quarless will have street named in his honor.

It’s not everyday that a Superbowl champion hails from Long Island. Last Monday Green Bay Packers rookie tight end Andrew Quarless came in front of the Nassau County Legislature to not only receive a citation for the accomplishment, but to have a portion of a road named after him in his hometown of Uniondale.

In deciding to rename a portion of the street after the rookie Superbowl winner, Legislator Kevan Abrahams, D-Hempstead believed that “it would be a tremendous role model, Andrew’s example, would be for young people, not just for the Uniondale community but or the Nassau-Long Island community.”

The section of Uniondale Avenue renamed for Quarless will run from Front Street to Jerusalem Avenue.

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“To have a street named after me, what else could I ask for?” Quarless said. “It’s such an honor.”

Stating that the mantra of their household was to remain “humble and hungry,” Dr. Duncan Quarless, Andrew’s father, said that the family understood “that part of what you’re doing is honoring the promise of Andrew, that’s the hunger part. And we understand that’s what happening here is a challenge to Andrew to be the individual as he moves forward that all of you understand him to be.”

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Quarless attended Holy Trinity High School until his junior year when he transferred to Uniondale High School before going onto Penn State. He was a fifth round draft pick for the Packers, making his debut in the 2010 season. Quarless filled in for Jermichael Finley this year after the starting tight end suffered a season-ending knee injury against Washington.

“My life is a testament to my family,” Quarless said, thanking his parents. “I had a tough journey growing up in Uniondale and without my parents really... have that faith in me and keeping me on that straight path with that tunnel vision, without them I couldn’t do it.”

Legislator Wayne Wink, D-Roslyn, a fellow graduate of Uniondale High School, said that he had “a feeling that that hunger that your dad talked about is still going to be with you for a long time to come.”


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