Testaverde Knows The Value Of Hard Work By Bob Buttitta Ventura County Star 8/7/04 Bill Parcells marvels at Vinny Testaverde's work ethic. Parcells said he's never been around a player who works harder than the veteran signal-caller. Testaverde learned about the value of hard work from his father, who worked for 35 years as a construction mason in New York City. "He broke his back to put food on the table," Testaverde said of his father. "When you go to work with him, you learn real fast to do something that you enjoy and to do it as long as you enjoy it. "I worked with him on some high-rises a couple of summers to make money for college. I did not want to make that a full-time job. I have a lot of respect for those laborers." Because he displayed a lot of talent at an early age, people were constantly questioning whether he was actually his stated age. To stop the debate, Testaverde said his dad used to carry around his birth certificate. "My dad would pull my birth certificate from his pocket and show them," Testaverde said. "I was very young age, maybe 5 or 6, when I decided I wanted to be a quarterback. "My dad told me if you go out to play catch, don't just throw the ball around, throw it hard. That helped build up my arm strength and helped me become a quarterback."