Juszczyk Adjusts to Life in the NFL

The life of an NFL rookie isn’t easy. Just ask Kyle Juszczyk ’13.

The former star tight end for the Crimson was forced to suit up against his hometown team Sunday as his Baltimore Ravens hosted the Cleveland Browns. Juszczyk grew up in Medina, Ohio, just 40 minutes south of Cleveland.

But trying to beat the team he had always rooted for is just the most recent challenge Juszczyk has faced as a pro football player.

After a good pre-draft visit with Ravens, Juszczyk thought Baltimore would be his most likely landing spot in the NFL draft.

He was right. The Ravens selected the Harvard product in the 4th round, 130th overall.

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh, who happened to coach under current Crimson coach Tim Murphy at Cincinnati, was up-front with Juszczyk about what his role would be on the team. Juszczyk had mainly played tight end in college, but he understood he would have to learn a new position to succeed in the NFL due to his physical attributes.

“They told me right away what they had planned on using me for,” Juszczyk said. “From the very beginning it was a multi-dimensional thing. They wanted me mainly to play fullback but they were going to use me at H-back and tight end too, and special teams as well was always going to be a big part of it.”

Juszczyk had just a week between the draft and offseason workouts, mini-camp, and organized team activities. The jump from the Ivy League to the NFL was a big one.

“The only thing that kind of caught me off guard was the time commitment,” Juszczyk recently told The Baltimore Sun. “I realize there would be a large time commitment, but I never realized how large.”

Juszczyk said the thing that he’ll remember most about training camp was how rigorous it was.

As a fourth-round pick, he was likely to make the final 53-man roster, but it wasn’t guaranteed. Two fellow fourth-round picks from the 2013 draft were cut before the regular season.

“Really, I’ll just remember the grind,” Juszczyk said. “You don’t get any breaks as a rookie.”

But Juszczyk was able to lean on two Pro-Bowlers, Vonta Leach and Ray Rice, for help.

Leach is a three-time All-Pro fullback, one of the best in the business. Rice, a running back, was recently ranked the 13th best player in the NFL on NFL.com

“I’ve had a number of good mentors,” Juszczyk said. “Vonta Leach has been a big mentor for me…. He’s definitely taken me under his wing.”

Juszczyk added that he turned to Rice a lot this offseason, especially when Leach wasn’t with the team while working out a new contract.

But the veterans have also had some fun with the rookie.

In a meeting last week, coaches were going over the team’s hand signals. When they got to a play Juszczyk knew as “Beijing,” the rookie was confused when coaches said the signal for that play was rubbing your head.

Juszczyk spoke up, asking how rubbing your head could signify the Chinese capital.

“That’s that Harvard thinking right there,” someone joked.

It turned out the play was called Begin, as in the hair care product.

A day before his first NFL preseason game, Juszczyk tweeted a picture of a Chick-Fil-A receipt. As the rookie, it was customary for him to pay for all of the running backs and fullbacks. The total came out to just under $100.

“#RookieObligations,” Juszczyk tweeted.

But all the trouble proved worth it the following night when the Ravens took on Tampa Bay.

Since entering the NFL, Juszczyk still hasn’t been more nervous than he was in the run-up to that night’s game, he said. And that includes his official NFL debut on national television in the season’s kickoff game against Denver.

Juszczyk overcame his nerves against the Buccaneers and impressed his coach while playing special teams. Harbaugh said as much to Juszczyk when the rookie came off the field.

“Coach Harbaugh came over to me and basically told me ‘You can do it. You are good enough at this level to make plays,’” Juszczyk remembered. “That was really reassuring.”

Juszczyk also enjoyed a special moment before the game.

Standing in the locker room, the rookie took a moment to look at his jersey. Throughout high school and college, he had never had his name on the back of his uniform. But here, above a big 4 and 0, were eight letters, all capitalized:

“JUSZCZYK”.

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at sports@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jacobfeldman4.