Le QB @TommyVento16 de MSU, nouveau quarteback des Falcons cette saison. Welcome to the family Tommy! #GoFalcons pic.twitter.com/2VdYSP7qAx

— Bron Falcons (@FalconsOfficiel) January 6, 2016

Vento initially thought that his football career would end after his time at MSU, but now he is taking this opportunity to play.

“For most of my career I thought that MSU would be the end of it,” Vento said. “Honestly, I kind of thought that it was one of those things where I thought that I would go out on top if you will. Michigan State was the peak for me and after I was through with playing I’d be okay with being done, but now I’m looking at it as an opportunity to go overseas for free.”

Even though playing football out of college wasn’t the dream for Vento, he’s excited to have the opportunity to travel the world and see new things. This new chapter of Vento’s life will be filled with tests and excitement, but he’s up for the challenge.

“The biggest challenge is going to be the language barrier,” Vento said. “I don’t know any French but I’m trying to learn it so I can get by, but what I’m excited about is obviously just the culture. For a lot of people, they might not dream about going there, but I always wanted to travel overseas and see France, Italy, all the countries like that and I think it’s a really cool opportunity to get to do that while I get to play football."

The Falcons are a Division II club football team located just outside of Lyon, France. They are led on the sideline by head coach Ludovic Bernon. The acquisition of Vento could have a large impact on the team, too. 

The Falcons went 8-2 overall last season and went all the way to the Division II Southern Conference semi-final game, before they lost to the Pessac Kangourous by a final score of 20-16. The team plays in a conference with talent slightly below NCAA standards. And on top of his expectations on the field, Vento will also be expected to help the club off the field as well.

“The gap is huge between top European teams and NCAA teams,” head recruiter and former head coach Julien Urgeni said. “We expect Tommy to be a leader on and off the field. … We also expect Tommy to coach the quarterbacks on our youth teams (19U and 16U teams). Off the field, we want him to be a great ambassador of the team and to show a genuine interest in the local culture.”

But even if all goes well for Vento, his international playing career might not be longed lived.

“I don’t really see this as a career,” Vento said. “I’m not going over there just for football or live out some dream of playing overseas, I’m going over there because I’ll get to be in France for six months and if the football stuff goes well then it goes well, and if it doesn’t then it was a learning experience and I got to be in France for six months.”

The Falcons will start their season Jan. 24 against the MFA Hurricanes.