Friday, September 05, 2014

Ivy League Has A Dozen In The NFL

The NFL kicked off last night with the Seahawks routing the Packers and there were Cornell grads on both teams. A total of 12 former Ivy League players made opening day rosters and another four are on practice squads. The list by school:

Brown
Zak DeOssie, Giants (5th year)
James Develin, Patriots (8th year)

Columbia
Jeff Adams, Texans (1st year)
Josh Martin,Chiefs (2nd year)

Cornell
Kevin Boothe, Raiders (9th year)
JC Tretter, Packers (2nd year)
Bryan Walters, Seahawks (5th year)

Harvard
Desmond Bryant, Browns (6th year)
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Texans (10th year)
Kyle Juszczyk, Ravens (2nd year)

Princeton
Mike Catapano, Chiefs (2nd year)
Caraun Reid, Lions (1st year)

PRACTICE SQUAD

Cornell
Jeff Mathews, Colts (1st year)

Harvard
Cameron Brate, Buccaneers (1st year)
Nnamdi Obokwelu, Colts (1st year)

Penn
Brandon Copeland, Ravens (2nd year)
The Harvard Crimson has a story noting that CBSSports lists the Crimson's Gerald  Zach Hodges as the No. 2 senior linebacker in the country. (LINK) (Editor's note: Leave it to a Penn State guy to confuse the names of a Nittany Lion great and a Harvard player.)

From the story:
“He doesn’t always really bring it because, put quite simply, we tell him against some guys you just can’t do that,” (Harvard coach Tim) Murphy said. “They are either going to get hurt or they are going to get so embarrassed that we limit his reps.”
A column in the Daily Pennsylvanian calls for Ivy League football to begin a week earlier as a way to  more relevancy. (LINK)
Dartmouth grad and seven-time NCAA champion Abbey D'Agostino was pictured on page 1 of the Boston Globe against the city skyline in a story earlier this week about Boston, "re-emerging as a running mecca for world-class athletes."

From the story (LINK):
In the months ahead, Brighton-based New Balance plans to build its own elite team with runners who will live and train in the area. Seven-time NCAA champion Abbey D’Agostino signed with New Balance in June and moved to Newton in August. The shoe company believes that the runner, who grew up in Topsfield, will draw other top talent.
Yesterday's BGA Premium practice report was centered around Dartmouth co-captain Sean Ronan, the Big Green's offensive line and the team's offensive promise. There will be two stories today with one after each half of the double session.