Remember Steve DeOssie?

[Lughead]

is a LB in this years draft

 

Olsen boosts stock with 40 time

Sunday, February 25, 2007

 

By VINNY DiTRANI

STAFF WRITER

 

 

 

INDIANAPOLIS -- Any question about whether Greg Olsen will be the first tight end taken in April's NFL draft disappeared Saturday in the wake of his 40-yard dash time at the combine. Olsen ran a 4.51 on the RCA Dome surface.

 

The former Wayne Hills star also caught everything thrown at him in a receiving drill to perhaps boost himself from the bottom of the first round to the middle.

 

Rutgers RB Brian Leonard helped his cause by bench-pressing 225 pounds 28 times, the most among the backs.

 

Second to Olsen among the tight ends was the combine's only Division III participant, Michael Allan of Whitworth College (Wash.), who ran a 4.71. Allan prepped for the combine at Parisi's Speed School in Fair Lawn, which also had the second fastest offensive lineman in Texas Tech's Gabe Hall (4.91).

 

Rutgers' Clark Harris unofficially ran 4.85 and 4.89 before pulling out of the tight end drills, indicating he may have aggravated the foot injury that forced him to withdraw from the Senior Bowl.

 

WHO'S THE BEST? Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson said he thought he is the best player in the upcoming draft -- although Wisconsin OT Joe Thomas (who ran a 4.92) might challenge for that honor.

 

USC wideout Dwayne Jarrett wasn't ready to cede that honor.

 

"Everyone has his own opinion," said the New Brunswick native, who like Johnson passed up his senior year to enter the draft. "He thinks he's the best, but there are a lot of great players in this draft."

 

And Jarrett includes himself in that group.

 

"Just look at my body of work," he said. "I won a national championship, wound up fourth in NCAA history in touchdowns, and I was a two-time All-American."

 

WHO'S THE BEST II? Penn State LB Paul Posluszny said he was floored when NFL Hall of Famer and former Nittany Lion Jack Ham labeled him "the best linebacker ever" at the school.

 

Is he Linebacker U's best ever?

 

"No!" he stated flatly. "There was Ham, Shane Conlan, LaVar Arrington, a lot of great linebackers from Penn State. I'm not up there with them."

 

BEACHBALL JR.: LB Zac DeOssie is the first player from Brown to be invited to the combine. He has inherited much from his father Steve, the former Cowboys, Giants and Patriots linebacker and long-snapper.

 

DeOssie, a high school quarterback, switched to linebacker at Brown. He also handled the team's long-snapping chores as a senior. And he has the same quick wit and outgoing personality as his father, whom Bill Parcells dubbed "Beachball" for his sensitivity to the sun.

 

"I guess the apple doesn't fall far," said DeOssie, who hopes to earn his early NFL paychecks playing on special teams. "[My dad]has always been my inspiration and my idol. He told me I had to sell myself here, that teams want to see you have confidence in your abilities."

 

DeOssie spent time as a ball boy in New England for Bill Belichick, who coached his dad with the Giants and Pats.

 

"I was Tom Brady's ball boy, and sometimes I even was an extra [throwing] arm," he recalled. "It was mind-boggling. [belichick] tried to teach me how to throw the ball when I was in high school. But I guess it didn't work; I wound up as a linebacker."

[mickeef2]

I remember when he got arrested for smoking a bowl in an airport parking lot.

[fringe]

He should have been arrested for stealing money from the Giants for 3 years.

[TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt]

He should have been arrested for stealing money from the Giants for 3 years.

Nah Blu hafta disagree with you on this one....Ol BeachBall left his heart on the field with his limited skills every game. And he played during the Glory years so he had to have something in the tank. I would trade him straight up for the Human Statue (former midget Emmons) any day.

[fringe]

Nah Blu hafta disagree with you on this one....Ol BeachBall left his heart on the field with his limited skills every game. And he played during the Glory years so he had to have something in the tank. I would trade him straight up for the Human Statue (former midget Emmons) any day.

i really think that parcells kept him around for the sound bytes. he talked to reporters and kept the pressure off the other guys in the locker room. on the field, very little value.

[TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt]

i really think that parcells kept him around for the sound bytes. he talked to reporters and kept the pressure off the other guys in the locker room. on the field, very little value.

Maybe its my nostalgia program working on overdrive then....I think I remember him making a couple of plays....which are two more than Emmons ever did. I do remember him being Parcells' little pet and he could not carry Reasons' jock strap.

[NeMesiS]

I was never much of a Steve DeOssie fan... Hopefully his son would be a better player than his father.