Regina Ferraro

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Regina Ferraro
Ferraro2.png
No. 47 – New York Silverbacks
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (2026-03-31)March 31, 2026 (aged 35)
Spotsylvania, Virginia, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:195 lb (88 kg)
Username:Baron1898
Career information
High school:James Monroe High School
College:Bowdoin College
ISFL Draft:2050 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8
DSFL Draft:2049 / Round: 2 / Pick: 10
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
5x ISFL Pro Bowl Safety (2053, 2054, 2056, 2057, 2058) 2x ISFL First-Team All-Pro (2056, 2057)

Regina Ferraro (born March 31, 2025) is an American football safety for the New York Silverbacks. She played college football for Bowdoin College before being picked up on waivers by the Dallas Birddogs after the trade deadline. Ferraro was selected 10th overall in the S34 DSFL Draft by the Birddogs. After playing a full season in the DSFL, she was selected 8th overall by the Silverbacks in the S35 ISFL Draft and played eleven seasons before retiring from professional play.

Early years

Regina Ferraro was born in Spotsylvania, Virginia on March 31, 2025, the daughter of Bruno and Amanda Ferraro. She grew up into a middle class family, her mother Amanda commuting daily to Washington, D.C. for her job at a statistical firm. Ferraro developed an intense interest in history, piqued by the Civil War battlefields that surrounded her neighborhood. Her dad Bruno, a former college track star, encouraged her and her three younger siblings to engage in their own athletic pursuits once they entered middle school. Ferraro developed an interest in American football, rooting for the local Baltimore Hawks and eventually trying out for the football team as a wide receiver.

At James Monroe High School, Ferraro was moved to the defensive backfield, where she learned to play safety and grew to love it. Although the Yellow Jackets were far from athletic powerhouses, she shined and attracted attention from college scouts with offers to play at a number of Division III schools. She was eventually recruited and accepted by Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine as part of the class of 2049.

College career

As a first-year student at Bowdoin, Ferraro failed to break into the starting lineup, serving only occasional snaps on special teams. Her sophomore season was more promising, playing rotational snaps at free safety throughout the season and even starting two games when senior Liam Grisham tore his ACL. The third season was when Ferraro's football career took off. She claimed the starting free safety position and never let go, playing all eight games in the season with the Polar Bears going 7-1 and defeating Colby in the rivalry game to claim the NESCAC Championship. Ferraro reached even greater heights in her final year at Bowdoin. She put up a fantastic stat line, breaking a school record with 10 interceptions to go along with an undefeated season and another NESCAC title. After winning a spot on the AP D-III All-American team and placing as a finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, Ferraro decided to go professional and became the second player nationwide to declare for the upcoming DSFL Draft and go on the DSFL waiver wire, after Swantavius Payne.

College career statistics

Career statistics Defense
Season Team Games Tck TFL FF/FR Sck Int PD Sfty TD Blk P/XP/FG
2046 (S31) Bowdoin 6 15 0 0/0 0 0 2 0 0 0/0/0
2047 (S32) Bowdoin 8 37 2 1/0 1 2 9 0 0 0/0/0
2048 (S33) Bowdoin 8 46 3 1/1 7 10 14 0 3 0/0/0
Overall Bowdoin 22 98 5 2/1 8 12 25 0 3 0/0/0

Professional career

DSFL career

Once Ferraro entered into the DSFL waiver pool, she was claimed off of waivers by the Dallas Birddogs and started in the final four games of the season. The Birddogs went 0-4 over the span, finishing their season with the second worst record in the DSFL at 5-9. Ferraro took a few games to adapt to the speed of the league compared to the college game. The defense averaged 27.5 points allowed in Ferraro's games on the roster and she had a similarly uninspiring statistical stretch, racking up 15 tackles, 1 sack, and 2 pass deflections and allowed 10 catches on 16 targets. Despite the lack of measurable success on the field and missing the playoffs, Ferraro enjoyed her time in Dallas acclimating to the team culture and locker room and getting her feet under her in the league. Once the offseason hit, she officially entered into the S34 DSFL draft pool and qualified for the Prospect Bowl as a member of the Newcastle Knights.

Ferraro was taken 10th overall in the draft, the second round selection of the Birddogs. In her first full professional season, Ferraro played free safety on a Dallas Birddogs squad that struggled throughout most of the season. After starting with a 3-1 record, the Birddogs lost seven of their last ten games, backing into the playoffs on a 6-8 record due to tiebreakers with the Bondi Beach Buccaneers. The Dallas defense averaged 32.5 points per game, the second worst mark in the league. Ferraro managed to grab three interceptions and eight pass deflections playing alongside fellow safeties Matthew Bee and Phillip King. However, in the playoffs, the Birddogs turned up the heat. In a thrilling overtime match against the conference rival Tijuana Luchadores, Ferraro was a key contributor to the 34-28 walkout victory, coming away with seven tackles, a forced fumble, pass deflection, and a crucial pick six while being named the Defensive Player of the Game. In the Ultimini game against the Minnesota Grey Ducks, Ferraro again pulled away with some key plays, adding a strip sack to four tackles in a blowout 33-7 victory. Ferraro went into the offseason an Ultimini champion and was frequently mocked as a top-three pick in the upcoming ISFL Draft; she ended up sliding to pick 8, where the New York Silverbacks took her.

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40‑yd dash 20‑ss 3‑cone Vert jump Broad
6 ft 0 in
(1.83 m)
195 lb
(88 kg)

DSFL career statistics

Career statistics Defense
Season Team Games Tck TFL FF/FR Sck Int PD Sfty TD Blk P/XP/FG
2048 (S33) Birddogs 4 15 0 0/0 1 0 2 0 0 0/0/0
2049 (S34) Birddogs 14 45 0 0/0 1 3 8 0 0 0/0/0
Overall Birddogs 18 60 0 0/0 2 3 10 0 0 0/0/0

DSFL playoff statistics

Career statistics Defense
Season Team Games Tck TFL FF/FR Sck Int PD Sfty TD Blk P/XP/FG
2049 (S34) Birddogs 2 11 0 2/1 1 1 1 0 1 0/0/0
Overall Birddogs 2 11 0 2/1 1 1 1 0 1 0/0/0

2050-51 season

Ferraro spent the offseason acclimating to her new position in the ISFL, moving to a new house in the New York metro area and working out with professional trainers and team staff. She signed her three-year rookie contract at a minimum rate of $1 million annually.

Her rookie season on the Silverbacks was spent playing at the strong safety position, rotating snaps in the backfield with team veteran safeties Dogwood Maple and Lawrence Miller. Her statistics were nothing noteworthy. Ferraro notched 65 tackles and allowed 73 catches on 111 targets for a 65.77% catch rate along with two sacks, one interception, and six pass deflections. The Silverbacks on the whole ended up with the third overall pick in the next draft due to their 6-10 team record and 504 points allowed, beat only in ignominy by the Colorado Yeti. Despite a lack of any personal or team acclaim, Ferraro continued to train towards greater play and went into the offseason aiming to take the free safety starting role from Maple.

2051-52 season

By the start of her sophomore season, Ferraro secured the spot starting at free safety for the Silverbacks. Her stat-line generally benefitted from the change in snaps. She allowed 61 catches on 99 targets for a 61.62% allowed catch rate, seventh-best in the league, and made 58 tackles. Ferraro also added a forced fumble and fumble recovery, three interceptions, and nine pass deflections, and notched her first ISFL touchdown with a Week 14 pick-six against the Orange County Otters. The Silverbacks, on the other hand, suffered a rough setback in their growth and went 5-11 on the year. The defense once again allowed the second-most points in the league with 522 and scooped up the second pick in the S37 ISFL Draft in the process. With one year remaining on her rookie contract, Ferraro still believed that New York was trending upwards as a team. Both Ferraro and the Silverbacks were poised for a breakout year.

2052-53 season

Ferraro's last year on her rookie contract, and the Silverbacks as a team, were very up-and-down in Season 37. However, her offseason regimen, focused on improving her center fielder skills as well as her tackling, helped her put up likely the best stat line of her young career. She was credited with allowing 80 catches on 115 targets, a marked decline from her first two seasons and fourth-worst in the league with a 69.57% catch rate. On the positive side, she reached 60 tackles and added three sacks, two forced fumbles, two interceptions, and eleven pass deflections, three of which were new career highs. New York came within one game of a playoff spot with three weeks left to play before they lost the final three games of the season, all within one score, to knock them down to a 6-10 record and the third pick in the next draft. There were bright signs ahead that the Silverbacks were on an upwards trajectory; six of their losses had been one-score affairs, teams like the Honolulu Hahalua looked poised for a rebuild, and the roster was entering its prime. Before the end of the season, Regina signed a ten year, $40 million extension to remain with the Silverbacks for the rest of her career.

2053-54 season

On the heels of a busy offseason, in which the Silverbacks spent big and traded for a number of key pieces, the team was widely conjectured as a serious playoff contender. Regina Ferraro continued her upwards statistical trajectory in her fourth season. She allowed 76 catches on 125 targets, a career best 60.80% completion rate, to go with 59 tackles. Although her secondary stats declined - she notched only one sack and had no forced fumbles or recoveries – she continued to set new career standards through the air with four interceptions and fourteen pass deflections. Despite a rough mid-season stretch in which the team dropped five of six games, New York still finished the year 9-7 and won the third seed in the ASFC based on a tiebreaker with the Otters, sending Ferraro to the playoffs for the first time in her ISFL career. On the road against the San Jose Sabercats in the divisional round, the Silverbacks throttled the home team 31-9 and comfortably won. Next up were the league-leading Arizona Outlaws, against whom New York had lost both regular season games by a single score. It was a tight game once again, and the Silverbacks even led 20-14 at halftime, but they could not stop the Outlaws from running out the clock in the fourth and lost 31-28. Ferraro played valiantly in the two-game playoff run, racking up fourteen tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, an interception, and a pass deflection. Her season earned her the first accolades of her professional career, earning a berth on the S38 ASFC Pro Bowl team.

2054-55 season

Unfortunately, the Silverbacks suffered regression in Ferraro's fifth year, stuck in mediocrity and ultimately placing fifth in the conference. New York was up and down all year, but still controlled their playoff destiny with two weeks left in the season before they tied and lost their final two matches. Ferraro herself maintained her previous high level of play despite the team woes, and having almost entirely capped out her training regimen, she reached a new career high with 74 tackles. In coverage, she gave up 79 catches on 126 targets for a 62.70% completion rate allowed, nabbed one sack and another four interceptions, and again paced herself with sixteen deflections. The lackluster team performance was disappointing, especially since team quarterback Malcolm Savage was now on his last legs, but the hope for the offseason was that the team defense could retool and build around the few key pieces already present. Ferraro's one consolation prize for the offseason was earning her second Pro Bowl nod.

2055-56 season

Ferraro's sixth season in the league was a disappointment across the board. Almost all of her stats took a dip from the past few seasons, ending up with 62 tackles, a forced fumble, and three sacks. In pass coverage, she allowed 75 receptions on 116 targets for a 64.66% completion rate and nabbed three interceptions and eleven pass deflections. Much of her underperformance can be attributed to New York's horrid defense, which had huge holes at strong safety and the defensive line, and an offense ineffectually captained by the aging Savage. The Silverbacks won only four games on the year, thanks in part to an abysmal 1-7 home record, and secured the first overall pick in the S41 ISFL Draft while watching the playoffs from the sidelines. For Ferraro, now fully in her athletic prime, the looming question was whether New York would be able to rebuild and contend for an Ultimus before she eventually lost her ability to play.

2056-57 season

In her seventh year in the league, Ferraro reached the apex both of her physical abilities and of her career to this point. Despite only grabbing 51 tackles, lower than any of her previous six campaigns, three of those takedowns came as sacks. It was in pass coverage, however, where Ferraro shined brightest. She gave up 87 catches on 146 targets, more than she had ever been targeted before and yet the lowest completion rate allowed with 59.59%, sixth-best across all safeties. She also grabbed 26 pass deflections (eleven more than the next highest safety), eight interceptions (tied for the league lead among all players), and two defensive touchdowns, all career high-water marks by significant margins. Those eight interceptions set a new Silverback team record for the most picks in a single season. The team itself was also much improved this year, landing at 7-9 despite some unlucky breaks and still notching the fifth overall pick thanks to favorable tiebreakers. Ferraro's excellent season won her deserving acclaim, giving her a third Pro Bowl and a First Team All-Pro.

2057-58 season

Ferraro was now firmly on the downswing of her career, but even a regression from her excellent prior season meant another good year. She finished the season with 62 tackles and was a menace to those she took down, grabbing her first ever safety and tackle for loss, three sacks, four forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries. Her pass deflections fell significantly to thirteen, in line with her first six seasons of play, and she allowed 94 catches on 139 targets for a terrible 67.63% completion rate, but she still managed six interceptions and a touchdown and officially took the record for the most career interceptions in New York franchise history previously held by Dogwood Maple. New York's success on the field improved as well, both through the defense and through the second-year jump of quarterback Blaine Falco, and they took the second seed in the conference on an 11-5 record. Unfortunately, the Silverbacks lost at home to the Hahalua and departed the playoffs early. Ferraro's offseason, marred by the further deterioration of her muscles and the first significant loss of endurance, was also brightened by her fourth Pro Bowl and second First Team All-Pro nomination.

2058-59 season

This was the first season where Ferraro truly showed her age. In almost every statistical metric, she declined from the year prior. She amassed 57 tackles, two sacks, and two forced fumbles, to pair with twelve pass deflections and four interceptions plus a touchdown. When targeted she did improve her efficiency, allowing 65 receptions on 108 targets for a 60.19% mark. This season did end up earning her a fifth career Pro Bowl, but the true highlight of the season was the performance of the team. New York went 14-2 on the season, beating out the Hawks for the best record in the league and easily securing not only the first seed in the conference, but home field advantage throughout the playoffs. In their conference championship game against the Outlaws, the Silverbacks came from behind in the fourth quarter to win 20-13 and make the trip to the Ultimus. Unfortunately, at the cusp of ultimate glory, Ferraro and the team fell short. Baltimore suffocated their hosts in a 16-10 upset, leaving New York to return home empty-handed. Ferraro only contributed one tackle all game. The offseason provoked some discussion as to how long Ferraro planned on sticking it out before fading into retirement.

2059-60 season

Inside the New York locker room, Season 44 was viewed as the beginning of the close for the Silverbacks' championship window. They had an up-and-down 11-5 regular season record, beating inferior teams by solid margins but losing to most other playoff contenders. After grabbing the second seed, they narrowly beat Austin 27-24 on a goal line stand but then lost to the Hahalua 19-16 after two Honolulu field goals in the last thirteen seconds of regulation. Ferraro went for 50 tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. In the passing game she allowed 65 catches on 118 attempts for a career-low 55.08% efficiency allowed, paired with three interceptions, ten pass deflections, and a defensive score. Those picks vaulted Ferraro into rarefied air in the league's top ten all-time interception leaders, but she knew that pushing her body much further would only yield diminishing returns. After the team's playoff loss, therefore, Ferraro announced to her management and to her teammates that she planned to play only one more season before retiring and hanging up the cleats.

2060-61 season

If Season 44 was the last hurrah of New York's old guard core, Season 45 was the official closing of the door. A frustratingly up-and-down season ended with the Silverbacks losing three of their last four games, ending the year with an 8-8 record and missing out on the playoffs. For Ferraro, this ultimate rejection of her lifelong Ultimus dream was personally devastating. As a player, though, Ferraro went out on a high note. She racked up 52 tackles and three sacks, allowing 78 of 127 targets for a pretty bang average 61.42% catch rate, and deflected eleven of those incompletions. However, it was her five season interceptions – including a pick on the first snap of Ferraro's last ever game and last ever victory – that pushed Ferraro's career interception mark to 43, the third most in ISFL history and only exceeded by cornerback Dermot Lavelle and safety Blackford Oakes. The accomplishment of that record proved a satisfying enough cap on her career, and thus Ferraro officially waved goodbye to the Silverbacks after eleven seasons of play and retired into the sunset.

ISFL career statistics

Career statistics Defense
Season Team Games Tck TFL FF/FR Sck Int PD Sfty TD Targets CtA Catch%
2050 (S35) Silverbacks 16 65 0 0/0 2 1 6 0 0 111 73 65.77%
2051 (S36) Silverbacks 16 58 0 1/1 0 3 9 0 1 99 61 61.62%
2052 (S37) Silverbacks 16 60 0 2/0 3 2 11 0 0 115 80 69.57%
2053 (S38) Silverbacks 16 59 0 0/0 1 4 14 0 0 125 76 60.80%
2054 (S39) Silverbacks 16 74 0 0/0 1 4 16 0 0 126 79 62.70%
2055 (S40) Silverbacks 16 62 0 1/0 3 3 11 0 0 116 75 64.66%
2056 (S41) Silverbacks 16 51 0 0/0 3 8 26 0 2 146 87 59.59%
2057 (S42) Silverbacks 16 62 1 4/3 3 6 13 1 1 139 94 67.63%
2058 (S43) Silverbacks 16 57 0 2/0 2 4 12 0 1 108 65 60.19%
2059 (S44) Silverbacks 16 50 0 1/1 2 3 10 0 1 118 65 55.08%
2060 (S45) Silverbacks 16 52 0 0/0 3 5 11 0 1 127 78 61.42%
Overall Silverbacks 176 650 1 11/5 23 43 139 1 7 1330 833 62.63%

ISFL playoff statistics

Career statistics Defense
Season Team Games Tck TFL FF/FR Sck Int PD Sfty TD Blk P/XP/FG
2053 (S38) Silverbacks 2 14 0 1/0 1 1 1 0 0 0/0/0
2057 (S42) Silverbacks 1 5 0 0/0 2 0 0 0 0 0/0/0
2058 (S43) Silverbacks 2 6 1 0/0 0 0 1 0 0 0/0/0
2059 (S44) Silverbacks 2 11 0 0/0 0 0 1 0 0 0/0/0
Overall Silverbacks 7 36 1 1/0 3 1 3 0 0 0/0/0

Achievements and records

DSFL

Ultimini Champion: 2049 (S34) (Ultimini Bowl XXXII)

2049 DSFL Pro Bowler

ISFL

2053 ISFL Pro Bowler

2054 ISFL Pro Bowler

2056 ISFL Pro Bowler

2057 ISFL Pro Bowler

2058 ISFL Pro Bowler

2056 ISFL First Team All-Pro

2057 ISFL First Team All-Pro

ISFL 3rd all-time interceptions (43, 2nd among safeties)

ISFL 70th all-time pass deflections (139, 5th among safeties)

ISFL tied-11th all-time defensive touchdowns (7, tied-5th among safeties)

Team Record – Most Interceptions in a Single Season (8, 2056)

Team Record – Most Career Interceptions (43)