DeOssie is Ivies' best shot at NFL

The stereotypical Ivy League athlete is smart, calculated and plays with his head - a student on the football field, but is also weak, slow and undersized.

If that's true, former Brown linebacker Zak DeOssie should have played in the Big Ten.

"He's one of those rare players you get in the Ivy League that can dominate" in the NFL, Brown coach Phil Estes said. "He was 6-foot-4-and-a-half, he was 250 pounds as an inside backer in the Ivy League, most of the guys that size are down linemen."

With the season over in November, DeOssie has been working on his athleticism for the last four months, trying to get into professional shape. He runs the 40-yard dash (4.58 seconds at the combine) like a wide receiver and bench presses (26 reps at 225 pounds) like a defensive end.

"That's what the [NFL] combine is for," DeOssie said. "I showed that I'm fast enough."

So it should not come as a surprise that the three-time first-team All-Ivy selection's stock shot up following the combine in late February. He's now projected by many, including draft guru Mel Kiper Jr., as a fourth-round pick, which would make him the first pick from Brown since seventh-rounder Sean Morey to New England in 1999.

And DeOssie is not the traditional overachieveing scholar-athlete - he was born to play football. His father, Steve, played in the NFL for four teams in 12 years, winning a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 1990, and now co-hosts a Patriots radio show in New England.

Now, the younger DeOssie is getting interviewed by all 32 NFL teams, especially by his father's Giants squad.

"Everyone knows my father, a lot of those guys were around when he was playing," DeOssie said. "It's a good ice-breaker when I'm talking" to scouts.

And with a father who is quick to give harsh advice to Patriots fans calling in to "The Big Show," the younger DeOssie will take any snippets of wisdom he can.

The best advice he heard recently was about the combine.

"He told me it was a business interview, and compose yourself accordingly and differentiate yourself from other people."

While DeOssie has put himself in a position where he knows he will be drafted, he still has a long way to go. Whether or not he's an "Ivy player," the transition from the Brown Bears to a team like the Chicago Bears will be hard.

"The thing that I have to concern myself with going to the next level is shedding blocks," DeOssie said. "I'm a tall guy, I can get away with that in the Ivy League, but now I have to get down, get good leverage in order to get off of blocks."

Estes had almost all good things to say about his defender, only saying "he doesn't have a good deal of patience; [he] wants to be in on every play . overplaying his responsibilities, and that got us in trouble a little bit."

Other than DeOssie, Harvard running back Clifton Dawson is the only other Ivy player with a shot of getting picked. He ran for 1,000-plus yards each of his four seasons, but is undersized at 5-foot-9 and doesn't have blow-by speed either.

And as the 298th player ranked on ESPN, the 255 total spots may not be enough for the Ancient Eight's all-time leading rusher.

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