Think there aren’t many football heroes around these days? Think again.

Alex Ocasio, a reserve middle linebacker with the Parkland varsity football team, doesn’t think he’s a hero. He just wants to be one of the boys on another very good Trojan squad under coach Tim Moncman.

Ocasio refused to let being hearing-impaired defeat his aspirations.

In the classic sense of the word, Alex is a warrior. A young man described as a committed, hardworking football player who goes 110 percent when others would accept less. A warrior is always ready for the fight, but also waits his turn at combat until instructed to enter the battle. Alex is alert, focused, studious and ready when his number is called Friday nights, but is selfless enough to cheer on his teammates from the sidelines.

Alex wanted to play football so bad when he was younger it almost hurt. He’d get to look at the jersey, the helmet and he’d dream of patrolling the field like his professional football idol, the great linebacker Ray Lewis.

Many thought Alex’s dream of having that attitude like Lewis’ on a 100-yard field of honor would be just that. A fantasy left unfulfilled.

Alex Ocasio decided the heck with it, he was going to be a football player. The best one he could. He began his football career at the age of nine, and later played for the Catasauqua Middle School team as a nose guard.

“There were some who said he just couldn’t play,” said his sign language assistant, Susan Arndt, who attends practices and games with him. “But he didn’t let it stop him.”

So there he is, on the Parkland practice field on a sweltering Monday afternoon pushing 95 degrees and he’s thrilled at his circumstance. It’s so sticky and humid on this day that dogs pass on chasing cars down the road. But for Alex, 95 or 25 degrees, any day as a Parkland Trojan varsity football player is a great day.

“He’s never made an excuse for anything,” says Moncman. “He comes out here and works as hard as anybody else or harder. Weight room, no matter what we’re doing, he’s never made an excuse.”

“I really love football,” said Ocasio in sign language to Sue. “When I’m here, I love practice. It’s so much fun and I really enjoy it, but it takes a lot of hard work and I see the progression.”

Playing middle linebacker means being in the thick of it. It means reading keys, not wasting a step in response, shedding off blockers and tackling ball carriers.

“Oh wow, I really had to learn how to become a strong middle linebacker,” he said. “I couldn’t be one that would complain or be negative. I had to stay positive and motivate everyone around me.

“I’m responsible for covering the number three wide receiver. That’s my primary responsibility. But also I’m responsible for winding up with that running back and making sure he doesn’t get out of there.”

His goal for being a good football player is to “work hard when I’m on scout defense to improve the offense,” he said. “If I mess up it’s going to be OK. I’m going to learn to continue to work hard and be successful on the team and make everybody else successful around me.”

“I try to get him on special teams and he played some Friday night,” said Moncman. “He got in for probably two series [against Northampton]. Along with being a third-string linebacker, he jumps in our scout team and gives us a great look against our starters on offense. He’s always involved. He’s never just standing around. He’s a total team player.”

Alex’s goals after graduation are to show the same enthusiasm and determination he brings to football. He plans to enroll in college and perhaps major in business.

Whatever his future holds, Alex has already done something for the Parkland football community.

“It’s a stress of brotherhood and family,” the coach said. “He’s gotten up and spoke before and he said ‘really, you guys don’t understand how important you are in my life. Your are my family. This is what I look forward to.’”

Alex has personally inspired Moncman. The coach’s son, A.J., has Leber congenital amaurosis, a leading cause of childhood blindness. Both young men refuse to let their challenge define them.

“It’s interesting for me because my son is going into eighth grade and was born blind,” the Moncman says. “He’s very similar to Alex. He wrestles, does everything and doesn’t make any excuses. It’s interesting when those two are together and they’re both an inspiration to anyone they meet.”

The interviews are over. Back to work for Alex. Actually, back to having fun. Back to being one of the boys. Time to be a football player. Behind him his Trojan teammates are being put through their paces. Alex turns and points to them.

“This is like my family,” he says of his teammates. “These are like my brothers. Coach Monc is like a second dad to me.”

Think there aren’t many football heroes around these days? Think again.