One has to wonder why a Serbian rower who barely knew the rules of football would want to join the Columbia squad, or why the Lions would want him on their team.
Well, it helps when he's 6-foot-7 and over 300 pounds.
A disgruntled member of the Columbia crew team, Stefan Savic wanted out, but he also wanted to remain a Lion.
"I was recruited for rowing, but I just really didn't enjoy it that much in college," Savic said. "I put on some extra weight and I wanted to stick to athletics and decided to switch to football."
The coaches weren't too eager to develop a serious project, especially with an athlete who was already a junior.
But Savic was too hard to ignore. Columbia's tallest and second-biggest player impressed at his tryout and earned a spot on then-rookie coach Norries Wilson's team last year.
"The first time I met coach Wilson, he gave me the nickname the 'Serbian Sledgehammer,'" Savic said. "It then got shortened to the 'Serbian Hammer', and that's what people on the team call me."
As for the mental part of the game, Savic had quite a handicap.
"I got a playbook right away, but it was pretty much useless," he said. "I didn't even know how many linemen there are on a team when I first started."
"It was pretty miserable because I had no idea what was going on," he added. "I'm playing O-line, that's a pretty hard position to learn. In meetings they would draw all of the seals, and I'd have no idea what it meant. It took me like two months to figure it out."
Not wanting to give up on his second sport, Savic appealed to his teammates. Last year, senior captain Matt Barsamian gave Savic some tips, as did Ralph DeBernardo, the man who's ahead of Savic on the Columbia depth chart.
Savic admits he will never be better than DeBernardo, a junior who started games his freshman year. But the starting right tackle has helped to develop his backup.
"All throughout the practice and then on the bus I would sit next to him, and he was pretty much telling me what was going on," Savic said.
Now a senior, Savic has made huge strides. He may not get any serious playing time, but in case an injury occurs, he'll now be ready to fill right in.
"I would go up to the line of scrimmage, and I would hate it because I knew I wasn't going to do it right," Savic said. "Now I'm comfortable with what I'm doing. I'm just focused on hitting people hard, and stuff like that. I don't have to think about assignments as much."
And while his friends and parents, who came to see a spring game this year, may never fully understand what it is he's doing, Savic has finally settled into a sport he enjoys playing.
"I'm having tons of fun now," Savic said. "I'm looking forward to every practice - that's something I haven't had in two years."
