Victor Surma

United States

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Biography

Brief Bio
Present
Past
Future

Victor Surma is a former football player whose career has gone on to encompass medical device sales as well as modeling.

Many former athletes look back to their days on the field as their true “glory days”—but not Victor Surma. Though he is nothing if not proud of what he accomplished as a football player at Penn State, he views that experience as the beginning, not necessarily the apex, of his career. Indeed, he has gone on to accomplish much since then, in a number of fields—and he is excited about the many opportunities that lay before him today.

Perhaps most significantly, Victor is a medical device salesman, focusing in the field of orthopedic supplies. He got into this line of work as a very young man—and in fact, he was recruited directly out of college. He has gone on to achieve at a high level, however, and is a nationally ranked sales professional.

More to the point, though, he is good at what he does because he genuinely loves it. He is a big believer in the importance of orthopedic medicine. He believes that it has the future to help individuals live with less pain than they might experience otherwise. In other words, Victor Surma believes that his work in medical device sales actually enables him to make a meaningful difference.

And this is to say nothing of the work that he does in modeling. You may have seen Victor Surma before, in fact—particularly if you are a subscriber to magazines such as Runner’s World. He is thankful for the work he is able to do in this realm, as well.

Victor Surma is nothing if not a hard man to pin down. With some fellows, you can easily summarize who they are—personally and professionally—with a quick job title or a one-sentence bio. That’s much harder with a guy like Victor—not because there is so little to say about him, but because there is so much. Indeed, he is a man whose interests are far-reaching, and whose passions run as deep as they are diverse.

To provide an idea as to who this man is and what matters to him, we might separate his life’s work into three basic categories. First, there is Penn State—the place where he got his start, and the school (and teams) for which he remains passionate even today. Then, there is modeling—something he got into almost by accident, but which went on to become a lifelong passion. Finally, there is orthopedics, the medical field in which Victor Surma is active today, as a consultant and as a device salesman.

The best place to begin is with Penn State, because indeed, it is hard to imagine this man achieving what he has without his foundation at this school. Of course, if you know much about Penn State, the name Victor Surma might be familiar to you—but then, so might the name Victor Surma Sr. This is a Penn State family through and through, and the elder Surma got his start playing football for Penn.

Indeed, the elder Surma was a Penn State football player of some skill—enough skill that he went on to be drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 1972. He was then traded to the Broncos. Young Victor Surma beams with pride as he thinks back to his old man’s illustrious football career, and it is hardly surprising that he wanted to play for Penn State himself.

Indeed, as a young boy and all the way through high school, this is what Victor Surma wanted more than anything else. He wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. He wanted to be a great athlete in the Penn State tradition—preferably football, or perhaps basketball if the former did not work out. And he ultimately got what he wanted. He chose to continue the family legacy by attending Penn State, and he ultimately played football there, serving as a walk-on for the second team.

Here it is important to note that he was truly a gifted athlete during his Penn State tenure. He was the MVP in 2005 for the school’s spring Blue and White game, with 11 receptions and 178 yards. With all of that said, however, Penn State means more to him than just football. It was at Penn State that he hunkered down and devoted himself fully to academics—and that devotion paid off in spades, ultimately leading him to the prosperous career he enjoys today.

Before turning to that work, in medical device sales, it is helpful to make a few notes about his modeling career. Both of his parents were in the dental field, and one day, they recommended that Victor become a model. He went on to meet an agent and was signed. Victor Surma says today that he enjoyed modeling because he also loves health and fitness; plus, modeling enabled him to unite his athletic and artistic inclinations. It was a natural fit for him, in other words.

As a model, he was able to travel all over the world, and he was able to work with some of the very best photographers out there—among them Bruce Webber and Mario Testino. He was signed with the Ford modeling company in New York, and he also worked in Miami and Los Angeles. Some may know his work from the covers he did for Runner’s World.

Finally, there are a few things to say about the third area in which Victor is passionate—that is, the field of medical device sales. He is currently a top name in orthopedic consultation—but how did he get there?

Victor Surma was recruited for this profession directly out of college—aided, no doubt, by that excellent academic performance at Penn State! He immediately began work selling medical implants in the orthopedic realm—and found that he was a natural at it! In fact, during his first year, he was awarded the #1 Rookie honor for the entire nation, and he went on to be #1 in sales nationally in 2011. In 2012, he was the national #2 seller.

It is no exaggeration at all to say that Surma is wildly successful in this work, then—and he says it is his football background that helps him succeed. He claims that the qualities that were instilled in him as an athlete—qualities such as work ethic, drive, and focus—remain important to him even today, and are foundational to his success. Surma remarks that working in his profession is high-stress and potentially high-risk, but he also finds it to be incredibly rewarding.

He loves his work, and he also happens to believe in it. The more time he spends learning about orthopedics, the more he realizes how much of a difference it makes in people’s lives—how powerfully it can work to alleviate pain and promote a higher standard of living. This is what makes it all worthwhile, Surma says—and this is why he loves doing what he does.

Then again, he loves doing what he does as a model, as well, and also believed strongly in the importance of performing at his very highest level as an athlete. That is to say, Victor Surma is someone who is marked by extreme drive and motivation. He does well in everything he sets his mind to, because he is someone for whom second place is never good enough.

The bottom line is that Victor is a man of many trades—and he is devoted to success in all of them. That devotion is what distinguishes him, whether on the football field or on a sales call. Victor Surma applies himself to many disciplines, and he seems to thrive in all of them!

For as long as there is work to be found in orthopedic device sales and in modeling, you can rest assured that Victor Surma will be doing just fine. Indeed, while it is impossible to predict the future with certainty, he is certainly optimistic about the potential that he has for furthering his career.

Certainly, new advances are being made in orthopedic device technology all the time. In 2013 alone, there have been significant breakthroughs in the technology used to treat knee pain and back pain. As more and more new devices make their way to the public—and as the benefits of yoga and other disciplines are further explored—Surma believes that orthopedics will continue to thrive. He is excited for what the future holds for him as an orthopedic device salesman.

And then there is his modeling work. Though he does not do as much of this as he used to, he remains passionate about what he has accomplished as a model, in particular in how he has been able to exemplify some of the best health and wellness trends.

And of course, for as long as Penn State has a football team, the future will look bright for Surma! He believes that 2013 marks the beginning of a new era for the team, and for the school. He is excited to find out how things work out with the team’s new coaches and players.

The bottom line is that, for a renaissance man like Victor Surma, the future cannot help but seem rich with possibilities!