Football Players Try for Pros

Throughout their time on the gridiron as members of Harvard’s football team, Collin Zych, Gino Gordon, Marco Iannuzzi, Chuks Obi, and Brent Osborne kept their opponents guessing. Now they’re the ones playing a waiting game.

The five athletes recently participated in two NFL Pro Days in hopes of making an NFL team. The league has the next move.

Each participated in a Pro Day on March 23 at Boston College, and four athletes participated in a second one Wednesday at Palmer Dixon and in the Stadium.

“I think it went really well,” Iannuzzi said. “As a group, we really performed well. A few of us had personal bests. We sort of got a little more exposure, definitely got some more eyes on us.”

Originally, the team had planned to participate solely in the Pro Day at BC, but James Frazier, the head of the Crimson’s strength and conditioning program, scheduled one on campus a few weeks ago, according to Osborne.

“They’re going to have every single NFL team in there,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said on Tuesday, March 8. “To have access to every single NFL team…makes perfect sense. It’s nice of BC to let us be part of that and recognize that we have some great talent.”

And the more Pro Days the better for the Crimson’s athletes, who recognize that spots in the NFL will be hard to come by.

“All of them have the potential to play in the NFL, but they all realize that they’re going to have to test well,” Murphy said before the combines.

Of all of the athletes, Iannuzzi might be the one with the best shot at earning a professional contract because he has also been pursuing a career in the CFL. The wide receiver participated in the CFL Combine over the weekend between March 4 and 6.

“For him, it’s natural,” Murphy said of Iannuzzi’s chances in the CFL. “They’re dying for outstanding athletes like that.”

Iannuzzi hasn’t announced which league he would prefer.

Meanwhile, the other four are competing for a spot in a league that may or may not have a season this coming fall.

“I consider myself a guy on the bubble,” Osborne said. “From what I understand, if a lockout is still going on, it would be hard to sign as a free agent.”

Should NFL teams take the field, there is no reason to believe that one of these five wouldn’t be among the ranks. One likely to do so is Zych, captain of the 2010 team. Zych and rising senior Josué Ortiz were the only athletes in the conference to be unanimously named first-team All Ivy.

“He’s a safety with corner speed [and] tremendous instincts, a big play kid,” Murphy said. “I don’t think he would have any problem getting a good look in an NFL camp.”

Senior Gino Gordon, co-recipient of the 2010 Ivy League Player of the Year award, is arguably Harvard’s most recognizable name.

“He’s one of those tremendously elusive backs, an all purpose back,” Murphy said. “He’s an outstanding runner. When we put him in the slot, he’s an outstanding receiver. There’s not a lot of guys who can do it all. He’d also be an excellent third down back because he’s an elusive pick-up guy.”

While the Crimson’s final two competing athletes, Obi and Osborne (known to teammates as “Ozzy”), may not have made as many highlight-reel plays as Gordon, Iannuzzi, and Zych, they have helped Harvard maintain its dominance along the line of scrimmage on both offense and defense.

Fittingly, the pair shared the Joseph E. Wolf award given to the team’s top interior linemen. While both are small for their position—at least by NFL standards—they make up for it with their speed, instincts, and versatility.

“Chuks probably need to get a little bit bigger to play inside at the NFL level, but he’s a big, strong, athletic, physical defensive lineman,” Murphy said. “He may be an end at their level, he was a tackle at our level...Ozzy, kind of the same thing. Ozzy’s a very athletic offensive lineman, was a tight end in high school, probably just a tad light right now.”

The five athletes began training with Frazier just after the Harvard-Yale game to prepare themselves for the tests.

“Training with coach Frazier’s been great,” Zych said. “He’s very good...If you asked any of us, we’d all say coach Frazier did a great job.”

The coming months will reveal whether these five Crimson standouts will be able to continue their football careers. But a love of the game was enough to keep them coming back for another go on the gridiron.

“I think I would be lying to say I came to Harvard expecting to play pro football,” Zych said. “I came to Harvard for the school and to play football...I had a great opportunity, and I’d love to try it.”

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.