Nineteen Ivy Leaguers currently grace NFL rosters, and this Saturday and Sunday they will wait and see if any of their Ancient Eight peers will join them via the NFL Draft.
There are three Ivy League players considered worthy of a pick in the seven rounds of the draft this year: offensive tackle Kevin Boothe of Cornell, running back Nick Hartigan of Brown and cornerback Jay McCareins of Princeton.
There are no Penn players who have a legitimate chance of getting drafted this year.
Among the three, the only sure bet is Boothe, who is expected by many to be drafted in the third or fourth round.
Penn coach Al Bagnoli believes that "there is not as much quantity," coming from the Ivy League, but that "Kevin Boothe makes up the difference."
Boothe graduated in December, but was allowed a fifth year of eligibility because he sat out his freshman year due to injury. He was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection for the second year in a row last season, the third time in his career.
"I honestly have no idea where I'll go, or when," Boothe said of his draft status. "It seems like I have a wide range from [the] third to sixth" rounds.
Boothe, who would be only the second Cornell alumnus in the NFL, is pulling out all the stops in order to up his draft status, including working with a famous trainer at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla.
"I worked out with Tom Shaw, who has trained numerous NFL stars from Deion Sanders to the Mannings," Boothe said. "I worked out with a lot of future first-round guys. We worked on explosion, strength and speed."
Boothe has played tackle for the Big Red the last two years, but is seen by many teams as a guard. But according to the prospect, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.
"It's not a big deal because I started two years at guard also," Boothe said. "Some teams have told me that I will be a swingman type guy who can play either position."
Cornell head coach Jim Knowles couldn't be more impressed with the work ethic and character of his star lineman.
"He's got a great head on his shoulders, he doesn't need direction from us," Knowles said.
Both Bagnoli and Knowles appreciate the benefits of having an Ivy League graduate in the draft.
"We hope he gets drafted on the first day," Knowles said. "It's great for us and the Ivy League in general."
While the lineman is lauded as a mid-round pick, McCareins and Hartigan's futures are far less certain. Both were named Associated Press first team All-Americans and Hartigan was invited to the annual East-West game. Both players put up gaudy statistics in their senior years.
Hartigan understands that if he will be drafted in will be in the later rounds but he is confident that he will make an NFL camp.
He has spent the last semester training for the draft and to prepare himself for the NFL in Fairfax, Virginia, his hometown, and with Shaw in Orlando as well.
"I worked out my schedule over the past two years so all I had to complete was a thesis [at the end of senior year]," Hartigan said.
Much like Boothe, Hartigan's position on an NFL roster will be determined by the organization.
"It really depends on the team," Hartigan said. "Some teams have me slotted as a running back, some teams have me slotted as a full back."
McCareins, the brother of the New York Jets' wide receiver Justin McCareins, notched nine interceptions, 11 pass break-ups and 48 tackles to go along with an average of 22.8 yards on kick returns.
"I expect to be drafted," McCareins said. "I have received interest from many teams and have had scouts and position coaches both say that I received draftable grades. If those teams do not draft me, a few teams have already said they would have me as a priority free agent."
While it isn't as easy to make it in the NFL as an undrafted free agent, it's far from impossible. Eight of the 19 former Ivy players in the NFL were not drafted -- including Duvol Thompson, who graduated from Penn last year and spent 2005 on the St. Louis Rams' practice squad.
Another good example is 2001 Princeton graduate Ross Tucker, who started 12 games at tackle for the Buffalo Bills in 2004.
Last year, the Rams took Harvard quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in the seventh round, the fourth Ancient Eight player picked in the last four years.
According to Bagnoli, the Ivy League has at least two legitimate NFL prospects for the 2007 draft in Harvard running back Clifton Dawson and Brown linebacker Zak DeOssie.
