Terry Grossetti has not given up on his dream. 

He’ll realized a portion of it Friday night when he takes part in his first professional football game as member of the Indoor Football League’s Rochester (N.Y.) Raiders. 

Grossetti, a 2004 Shenango High graduate, is ready to go after spending the last two weeks in Rochester working out with the team, preparing for this week’s game at Western Michigan.

“It’s definitely exciting to get back out on the field,” he said. “I pretty much was in training camp mode the last two weeks. It’s definitely been different because I haven’t been playing since college. But the guys on the team have been cool and the coaches have been, too.”

Grossetti, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound wide receiver, has not seen competitive game action since he wrapped up his career at Slippery Rock University in the fall of 2008. He led The Rock with 39 catches for 409 yards and was second on the team with seven touchdowns. That effort capped a solid three-year career at SRU for Grossetti, who attended Liberty University in 2004-05, but did not play for the Flames.

The agile wideout — with his mixture of size, speed and athleticism — drew the interest of many professional scouts. However, he went undrafted and unsigned last year.

“At the draft last year, I was projected to be a sixth- or seventh-round pick, but I didn’t get drafted. The Cardinals and Steelers said they were interested and I thought they might try to sign me afterward, but they didn’t,” he said. “So, for the past year after I graduated, I had some workouts with some Canadian teams. I had a workout with the Steelers and a couple other teams. It’s been a long process.”

Grossetti had chances to sign with other indoor football league teams, but did not want to give up on the hope that he’d latch on with an NFL or CFL squad. However, once no suitors called, he decided to entertain serious offers from indoor teams.

When the Rochester Raiders showed interest, Grossetti jumped on the chance to join the team.

“I had a couple offers to play for some indoor teams in Texas, but this team is great. The ownership is great,” he said. “It’s a very good situation to be in for indoor football. I know a lot of people who have played indoor and things didn’t go their way.”

Mark Thurston, the Raiders’ director of player personnel, was thrilled to add Grossetti to the team’s roster after learning about the local product during a conversation.

“I talk with various agents and I put it out there that I was looking for two receivers,” he said. “I learned about Terry and I called him and invited him up. We had three weeks before our next game, so it was an ideal situation for him to get in and learn the offense and get acclimated. He has been doing a great job.”

Grossetti’s learning curve for the 8-on-8 indoor football game was small.

“It’s great. I love it. It’s kind of like basketball, in a way, because the field is so small and fast,” he said. “I adapted to it really quickly. I am still getting used to it, though, and the different rules. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot more fun that outdoor because we pass almost every play.”

Perry Patterson, the former Syracuse quarterback, has found a new favorite target in Grossetti, who will start for the Raiders (1-0).

“We want him to be as natural as possible — just to go out and do the things he does and do them very well. That’s what he does,” Thurston said. “He is getting along with the players here. They like him as a person and an athlete. You can see he has a lot of potential. It wouldn’t surprise me if he has two or three touchdowns this week.”

Raiders players earn roughly $200 for each game, but are given free room and board (Grossetti is staying with another teammate in a hotel room provided by the team), as well as free medical care. When he’s not practicing or playing football at night, Grossetti is working at the Don Beebe’s House of Speed franchise in Rochester. It’s an athletic performance facility with a mission to help youths improve their athleticism.

“It’s pretty cool, getting the chance to help kids with football,” Grossetti said. “That’s probably what I want to get into after I am done playing.” 

However, he has not given up on his goal of reaching the NFL just yet.

“It’s just a great opportunity to try to continue my dream of playing. If I didn’t have a shot, I wouldn’t be up here,” he said. “It’s a good situation to be in. I am happy that I am here playing again. I am just trying to use this as a stepping stone.

“There are so many guys on my team and in my situation who just missed playing in the NFL. There are just not enough NFL or CFL teams for everybody to play on,” he continued. “There are not too many people here just playing just for fun, either. They want to improve and get better and have dreams of playing in the NFL, too. This is where you have to do it.”