Sal Cannella's dad once joked with his son's karate instructor, "So when do I get to see my money put to use?"
"Hopefully never," the instructor responded playfully.
While Auburn's new tight end has been a black belt since he was 12 years old, the Illinois native has rarely, if ever, put his fighting ability to use outside of karate lessons. A basketball game his senior year of high school is one of the only times his parents have seen him come close to using his karate skills.
Cannella and his St. Viator team were facing one of the top teams in Illinois.
Several college coaches and reporters were in attendance. It was an opportunity for the underrated 6-foot-5 Cannella to show he deserved more attention. He was matched up against 6-foot-8 forward Evan Boudreaux, one of the top players in the state.
So, Cannella was frustrated when he received a third soft foul call before halftime and was taken out of the game. When he re-entered, Cannella said to one of the referees, "If you're not going to let me play the game, just foul me out. I haven't even touched him yet."
That soon changed.
Cannella and Boudreaux, who were AAU teammates, continued to talk trash back and forth. At one point during the second half, Boudreaux attempted to post up on Cannella and didn't like how physical Cannella was in holding his ground. Boudreaux got in Cannella's face and pushed him. Cannella reacted by grabbing Boudreaux's upper body, sticking his leg out and flipping Boudreaux over his hip onto his back.
The game changed after that as Cannella helped his team nearly erase what had been a double-digit deficit before eventually fouling out during the fourth quarter.
That's one of the few funny karate-related stories Cannella's father, Cosimo, has about his son. And while that may be the most Cannella ever shows of his karate skills in a public forum, lessons learned en route to becoming a black belt have helped Cannella reach this point at Auburn. The basketball background has been helpful as well for Cannella, who has followed through on a promise he made to his parents after finishing high school in 2015.
***
The deal was the same for both Cannella and his brother.
Their parents told them they would pay for everything during high school -- their cars, gas, insurance, dates, clothes and for them to attend St. Viator, a local private school. But both sons were informed that they would be responsible for paying for college.
So, without a scholarship offer coming out of high school, Cannella made another deal with his parents.
Give me one year at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona, Cannella told them, and I promise you I'll get a scholarship.
They obliged. Two years later, Cannella is at Auburn and seemingly set to make an impact in his first year with the Tigers.
"He was going to college one way or another," said Cosimo Cannella, who owns a construction company. "It was either going to be a junior college here, a junior college there or he was going to work for me. And he didn't want to work for me. I can make most grown men cry on a job. I had Sal and his brother work for me for a summer in high school. And if you can handle a full-blown concrete construction crew in Chicago in the middle of the summer, you can handle football, I think."
As promised, Cannella started receiving scholarship offers within his first year at Scottsdale Community College.
Cannella grayshirted in 2015 and focused on getting bigger after arriving in Arizona weighing only 200 pounds. He also continued to grow as a football player after only one year of varsity football in high school. Cannella was up about 25 pounds by the spring, showed his playmaking ability during the school's spring practice and received a scholarship offer from UMass in June of last year.
Cannella, the No. 2 junior college tight end in this year's recruiting class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, ended up choosing Auburn over Texas and Maryland.
Before making that decision, Cannella and his family had a question for Tigers coach Gus Malzahn.
"We did our homework and you don't use the tight ends," Cosimo Cannella said to Malzahn. "So why should he come here?"
"We will," Malzahn responded. "We need to, and we are. We need an athletic guy, and Sal fits where we're going."
***
Cannella is known for his ability to out-jump defensive backs and make acrobatic, contested catches down the field.
It's where the basketball background comes into play. Cannella is adept at getting into a good position and going high to get the ball, as he would if he were going for a rebound. He also feels that basketball -- and being used to the constant running up and down the court -- has prepared him for the Tigers' up-tempo offense.
Auburn continues to use Cannella at tight end, H-back and wide receiver.
"He catches a lot of contested balls," running back Kerryon Johnson said. "He's a big target. He knows how to use his body to block off defenders. He knows how to go and get the ball. He's a sneaky athlete. I think he's going to be very big for us this year. I think he really will."
Seeing Cannella regularly make those types of catches in practice is why his junior college coach says he knew Cannella was going to be a special player even when Cannella was a lanky 200 pounds.
"Sal has a freakish ability to be in the air and still be completely under control," said Doug Madoski, Cannella's junior college coach. "He's just a big athlete that can do a lot of different things and create mismatches in space. If you try to cover Sal with a linebacker, good luck. He's a talented kid and, if he does what I think he's able to do, he's a mismatch machine for you."
And while Cannella still isn't massive at 230 pounds, those close to him will tell you he "loves to hit." And not just in basketball games.
Madoski mentioned a particular play from last fall. During a practice, Cannella blocked a defender at the line of scrimmage and then knocked another player down before hustling to make another block.
"The best way I can define Sal is that play right there," Madoski said. "You see him catch a ball across the middle -- and the ball goes behind him and he goes up with one hand and makes the play -- those are plays quality football players can make at the positions he plays. But who's the guy that's going to be hungry enough to go take a linebacker and knock him down on the ground and then go find someone else and knock him down as well? He's an unselfish guy from that standpoint and that kind of intense kid. No question."
***
The hair is what sticks out immediately about Cannella, long brown hair that stretches down below his shoulders.
Cannella has a unique style, is very confident and, according to Auburn offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, has "a little edge about him."
Cannella was an early trendsetter with knee high socks, beginning to wear them when he was in second grade before doing so was so common. In eighth grade, Cannella began sewing his own clothes, and he's now studying fashion design at Auburn. And whenever the St. Viator dean asked him about cutting his hair in high school, Cannella's response would be: "What's wrong with long hair? Jesus Christ had long hair."
When the Cannellas visited Auburn during the recruiting process, the lead crystal football from the Tigers' 2010 national championship was sitting on a pedestal in the locker room. Cannella picked it up, did a Heisman pose and said, "You better get used to this."
And when the Cannellas were looking at the bronze statues commemorating Auburn's past Heisman Trophy winners, Cannella said to his father, "They better start casting mine now."
"I just laugh because that's Sal's personality," Cosimo Cannella said. "It wasn't out of disrespect. It's just that he's that comfortable in the limelight."
Cannella is already off to a great start with Auburn. A teammate who went home with Cannella during the summer told his father, "A lot of these guys fully expect Sal to start."
On display since January has been the pass-catching ability, that "edge" and discipline that Cannella's father says comes from the karate background.
"He's self-motivated and driven, and I know his commitment and work ethic," Cosimo Cannella said. "When everyone else was going out to parties in high school or going out after games, Sal and his brother both were at the gym... You haven't seen a kid like Sal yet. He's going to do things this year that people aren't expecting."
And Cannella recently made another promise to his father, that he's going to one day be a first round pick in the NFL draft.
"He's ready for this year," Cosimo Cannella said. "He's more than ready. He spent the whole summer just working out like an animal twice a day. I'm telling you, I think he's going to shock some people."