By Ed Morrone
Over the past school year, many Hofstra athletic teams have had breakthrough seasons. Both soccer teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament, men’s and women’s basketball both made postseason appearances (with the men being on the cusp of the Big Dance) and the men’s lacrosse team is currently No. 2 in the country. However, it was a disappointing team that made the year’s most accomplishing splash.
The Hofstra football team finished the 2005 season with a respectable 7-4 record, but defensive woes and late-game collapses hindered the Pride from qualifying for the I-AA postseason.
But none of that mattered this week, as two Pride players were selected in the 2006 NFL Draft and another signed as an undrafted free agent and three more have scheduled workouts with NFL teams this week.
Offensive tackle Willie Colon was drafted the highest (34th pick in the fourth round, 131st overall) by the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Wide receiver Marques Colston followed Colon as the 252nd overall pick, landing with Reggie Bush and Drew Brees on a revamped New Orleans Saints offense. Colon and Colston became the ninth and 10th Hofstra football players to be selected for the draft, and were the first since Giovanni Carmazzi was selected in the third round in 2000. It was the first time in program history that two players were selected in the same draft.
In addition, defensive end Stephen Bowen signed a free agent deal with the Dallas Cowboys, and WR Devale Ellis (Lions), TE Brandon Sebald (Redskins) and RB Onyi Momah (Bengals) have minicamp workouts this week.
The draft capped a surprisingly successful week for a usually unsuccessful program. Hofstra isn’t used to seeing its athletes rise to the professional ranks, so the players were quick to give credit to the athletic department, which is now routinely building teams that can compete with the big guns.
“This is just another notch on the athletic department’s success,” said new Pride head coach Dave Cohen, who succeeded the retired Joe Gardi. “To have two guys drafted and six total players in NFL camps this week, that’s incredible.”
Considering the program’s recent futility-last season was the first winning one since 2001-incredible is the operative word. How much success any of these players will have in the NFL remains to be seen, but for now that is meaningless. This accomplishment was about showing that Hofstra football, like many of the newly successful teams on campus, could produce professional talent.
“It just shows that Hofstra is a competitor,” Colon said. “We made things happen here, and Coach Cohen is going to continue to make things happen.”
“We can play with the big boys,” Colston added. “We silenced some doubters and put Hofstra football back on the map.”
The success in the draft also indicates how important it is for the athletic department to continue recruiting top talent and patiently develop its players. Colon and Colston didn’t come to Hofstra with realistic ambitions of playing in the pros, and they were quick to thank Gardi and his staff in pushing them that extra mile.
“This is just great, because me and these guys have been here together through the hard times,” Colston said. “Coach Gardi gave us an opportunity to excel, so it’s great for it to end like this.”
Now the burden is on Cohen and his new staff to live up to these professional expectations, but with all of the success that Hofstra teams have had this year, it’s going to be that much harder to count football out.