Patriots special-teams ace Ray Ventrone finds running room in a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

FOXBORO — To look at Ray Ventrone is to see anything but the prototypical NFL player. He’s a little short, at 5-foot-10, has a baby face that makes him look more like your kid brother than a hard-hitting, special-teams ace, and then there’s his football pedigree: Ventrone went to I-AA Villanova and came to New England as the longest of longshots, the undrafted rookie.

But Ventrone, all 200 pounds of him, is nothing if he’s not scrappy, and his hardworking nature and willingness to do whatever the Patriots ask of him earned him a place on the 53-man roster this season after several trips back and forth between the practice squad and active roster the previous three seasons.

Called “Bubba” by just about everyone, including coach Bill Belichick — it’s actually a shortened version of the original nickname his father gave him, “Big Head Bubba,” due to his oversized melon as a baby — Ventrone met his wife, Katie, in 2005 when they were neighbors in a three-family home in Norton, Mass. The Pittsburgh native co-founded a charity program when he was in seventh grade: the annual Hoops for a Cure tournament to benefit pancreatic cancer research pits Steelers alumni against Ventrone and his former teammates at Chartiers Valley High.

Here’s more of this week’s Up Close.

•My first car: Was a Jeep Cherokee Sport. I worked hard for it. We did a scavenger hunt in high school, and all the stuff from the scavenger hunt stunk it up terrible. I had to get rid of it.

•My first job: I was a valet at a restaurant in Pittsburgh when I was 16. I also worked for my dad doing maintenance at his building — he’s business manager for the boilermakers’ union in Pittsburgh.

•Favorite way to spend the off-day: I really like just relaxing, catching up on TV shows — I’m a big DVR (digital video recorder) guy. So catch up on that and maybe go to a movie.

•My favorite TV show: Too many. If I named them all, I’d kill my reputation. Some of the ones I’m not embarrassed about: The Office, Entourage, and I’ll say Gray’s Anatomy to show my soft side [laughs].

•If I wasn’t in the NFL: I went to school for business, but I’m sure I’d probably be coaching or doing something with football.

•My favorite meal: I’d have to say my mom’s marinara sauce, and my wife makes a penne with vodka sauce.

•My pre-game ritual: I don’t have a pre-game ritual, but every day I do everything left first: left sock, right sock; left shoe, right shoe. If I catch myself putting my right on first, I’ll pull it off.

•In heavy rotation on my ipod: That new Kanye West CD [808s & Heartbreak] that came out Tuesday is awesome. I haven’t stopped listening to it since I got it.

•My hero: [Heath Evans, who has the locker next to Ventrone, happens to come to his stall during this question and jokingly suggests that he is Ventrone’s hero] I look up to my father, Ray. He really worked hard to help our family and he’s worked his way to a good position in life because of his hard work.

smanza@projo.com