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article by tim stephens
photography courtesy of the NFL and Marshall University
An inside look at former Thundering Herd stars
now suiting up on Sundays in the hard hitting NFL
Their jerseys hang on the walls of Marshall’s facilities building,
the last names stitched across their back, collectively serving as one
of the Thundering Herd’s strongest recruiting tools.
Pennington.
Moss. Chapman. Wade. Williams.
They represent Marshall’s players
in the NFL, 16 in all. To put that in perspective, Marshall coaches of
the 1980s took great pride in
the fact that the Herd had one player – Minnesota Vikings cornerback
Carl Lee – playing pro football. When MU had two players – wide
receiver Mike Barber and tight end Sean Doctor – drafted in 1989,
Herd fans were giddy.
Now, Marshall features more players on NFL rosters
than does Southern California, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Oregon
State, Purdue,
Oklahoma State and dozens of other nationally-renowned programs.
There
are grizzled veterans Troy Brown and Mike Bartrum, each entering their
11th season in the NFL ranks. There also are promising rookies
Steve Sciullo and Byron Leftwich, both learning the pro game and trying
to make an impact.
“I think it’s just phenomenal to see all these guys from
Marshall in the league,” said Bartrum, a tight end and longsnapper
with the Philadelphia Eagles. “It seems like every game we play
there’s somebody on the other team from Marshall.”
Bartrum is one of the most successful. Despite
having just four catches, including three for touchdowns, in his career,
Bartrum was named by the NFL’s coaches the best longsnapper in
the league. That he spends most of his playing time peering upside down
between his legs for a living doesn’t bother Bartrum, who has spent
time with the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots.
“It’s a great way to make a living,” Bartrum said.
“I feel very blessed.”
So does Brown, the Patriots premier wide receiver
and a Pro Bowl player with a Super Bowl ring. Brown led New England with 97
catches for 890
yards and three touchdowns last season. Not bad for a player once
considered too small and too slow. “I just keep working hard,” Brown
said. “That’s all
I can do.”
Brown, who has 418 catches for 4,860 yards and 20
touchdowns in his career, also stars on special teams. His punt
return for a touchdown
against
Pittsburgh led the Patriots charge to the Super Bowl two years
ago. Brown said he takes pride in his special teams skills, something
of which he
has plenty of company from MU alumni.
Not only do Bartrum and Brown
excel on special teams, so do three other ex-Herd standouts. Chris Massey
is the longsnapper with the
St. Louis
Rams. J.R. Jenkins is the kicker with the Baltimore Ravens and Chris
Hanson is an All-Pro punter with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Forget the quarterbacks. Marshall is known for its longsnappers,” Massey
said, joking that he and Bartrum are more well-known than Chad Pennington
and Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich.
Massey doubles as the
Rams’ number two fullback, but his primary
job is to snap the ball to the punter and to the holder for field
goals and extra points. As with Bartrum, much of Massey’s view of the
game is from upside down.
“The more you can do, the longer you’ll be around,” Massey
said. “I came to Marshall University as a linebacker and
took up longsnapping. That’s what got me to the NFL.”
How
much J.R. Jenkins is on the field depends on how often his Ravens’ teammates
score. Jenkins handles Baltimore’s kickoff duties and is
the team’s
long-distance field goal specialist. His ability to kick off into
the end zone attracted the Ravens, who signed him after his stints
with the
Arena League’s Detroit Fury and NFL Europe’s Berlin
Thunder.
Hanson was stellar last season, averaging 44.2 yards per
punt and dropping 27 kicks inside the opponents’ 20-yard
line to earn a spot in the Pro Bowl, football’s all-star
game. The selection to the Pro Bowl was gratifying for a player
once cut by the Cleveland Browns.
“It was a dream come true,” Hanson said.
Hanson is a teammate
of Leftwich, who signed a five-year deal worth between $23 and $30 million.
Leftwich, the seventh player selected
in the 2003
draft, said he was thrilled to embark on an NFL career after a
19-day holdout while his contract was being negotiated by his agents.
“I didn’t know what the process would be like,” Leftwich
said of the complicated contract negotiations. “If there was one
thing I could go back and do over, that would be it. Now, I’m
ready to learn and play football in the NFL.”
Leftwich began
his career behind veteran quarterback Mark Brunell. But four
weeks into the season Brunell went down with an injury
and Leftwich
was quickly tapped as the starting quarterback.
Chad Pennington,
Leftwich’s mentor while at Marshall, was outstanding
last season as a New York Jet, completing 275 of 399 passes for
3,120 yards and 22 touchdowns, with just six interceptions. By season’s
end he had one of the highest quarterback ratings in the league.
Despite injuring his wrist in a preseason game this year, Pennington
hopes to
return to the lineup in November and lead the Jets to the playoffs
once again. In the meantime, he has encouraged Leftwich to be patient.
“Byron and I have talked a lot,” said Pennington. “He’ll
do a great job. There’s nothing that he can’t handle.
He just needs to learn and be himself.”
Sciullo might make
the biggest impact of any Marshall rookie. A fourth-round draft
pick of the Indianapolis Colts, Sciullo (6-foot-5,
330 pounds)
has won the starting job at right guard after spending his college
career as a tackle.
“I’ve heard nothing but good things about Steve,” said
Mark McHale, Marshall’s offensive coordinator and Sciullo’s
former line coach. “It sounds like he’s made an impression
on them.”
Center John Wade left the Jacksonville Jaguars,
where he spent his entire career, this season to join the world
champion Tampa
Bay Buccaneers.
Wade said leaving Jacksonville was a difficult decision, but that
the chance to sign with Tampa Bay was too enticing.
“I liked Jacksonville,” Wade said. “It was hard to
leave that community, but the opportunity to play for the Super Bowl
champions
was too good to turn down. I like this team and I think we have a good shot
at winning it all again.”
Another former Herd blocker, Jason
Starkey, backs up Frank Garcia as the Arizona Cardinals center.
Starkey still sees considerable
playing
time.
Joining Starkey in Arizona is former Marshall wide receiver
Nate Poole. Poole, who ranks third in Mid-American Conference history
with 215
receptions as well as being the fourth most prolific wideout in
Herd history, is
back for a second season with the Cardinals. The speedster from
Danville, Va. has one touchdown catch in the NFL and is hoping
for more this
season.
Fans looking to see a former Herd player in person need
drive just three hours to Cincinnati, where safety Rogers Beckett plays.
Beckett
was a
second-round draft pick of the San Diego Chargers in 2000. When
San Diego overhauled its defense in the offseason, releasing all
four
starting defensive backs, the Bengals jumped at the chance to sign
Beckett,
one
of the league’s surest tacklers.
“I’m happy to get the chance to play in Cincinnati,” Beckett
said. “It’s good to be wanted.”
Chris Crocker
is a rookie safety with the Cleveland Browns. A fifth-round draft
pick, Crocker is already contributing in the secondary and
on special teams.
Fans looking for the most former Herd players
in one game should look to any contest involving Minnesota, where the
team is rapidly
becoming
the Thundering Vikings. Not only does Minnesota feature All-Pro
wide receiver Randy Moss, but former Herd running back Doug Chapman
and
defensive tackle Billy Lyon as well.
Moss has scored 51 touchdowns
in his first four seasons and is the most-dominant wide receiver in the
game. The Vikings expect
to use
him deep more often
this season.
Chapman is a back-up running back with the Vikings. “I’m
ready to play,” said Chapman, who missed half of last season
with an injury. “You have to be ready all the time because
you never know when you’re going to be called on.”
Lyon
signed with Minnesota in the off-season after playing the last
two years with the Green Bay Packers. Lyon gives the Vikings
versatility
at end and tackle.
At the beginning of the preseason, Marshall had
more than 20 former players vying for spots on NFL squads. By the time
teams announced
their final
rosters, that number had dwindled to 16. But don’t be surprised
to see some of those players suiting up on Sundays next season,
as professional football is a fickle game. But one thing is certain – Marshall
is fast becoming a fertile training ground for athletes wanting
their shot at playing in the hard hitting NFL.
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