WEx: From ivy walls to the NFL?

[bubba9497]

From ivy walls to the NFL?

http://www.dcexaminer.com/articles/2005/08/24/sports/maryland_sports/001_skins_main.txt

ASHBURN - He's a smart kid. So he understands the odds. Four years at Princeton weren't necessary for Zak Keasey to figure that out.

And yet ...

His name comes up often. One day it's assistant head coach/defense Gregg Williams (whose son played with Keasey at Princeton). Another day it's special teams coach Danny Smith. Or maybe head coach Joe Gibbs.

Which means Keasey already has defeated the odds. He's from Princeton; he wasn't even signed until after a tryout at a rookie minicamp.

"He can absorb what we're teaching and put it into practice," linebackers coach Dale Lindsey said. "Guys here really respect him because of his work ethic and toughness. It doesn't matter where you went to school. Just because you were in the Ivy League doesn't mean you can't play."

A roster spot is still a longshot. And Keasey must make his mark on special teams -- he was with the first kickoff return unit Friday.

Considering the Redskins spent the offseason adding depth at linebacker to help special teams, his best chance could be the practice squad. It doesn't help that he's only 6-foot, 240 pounds -- small for an NFL linebacker.

"I definitely get a little nervous [thinking about cuts]," Keasey said. "There are a lot of linebackers so I try not to think about it."

Keasey, a Michigan native, was mostly recruited by schools in the Mid-American Conference. The University of Michigan flirted with him, but Princeton gave him a solid offer. He already harbored NFL dreams and didn't think attending an Ivy League school would hurt.

"Guys tease me a little bit about it," said Keasey, who has a sociology degree and plans to someday attend business school. "It's not the best football program. But Princeton offered me the best of both worlds if football didn't work out."

Not that a Princeton education always helps him on the field.

"Coaches already have found out that being smart doesn't translate into football smart," he said, laughing. "Everyone messes up plays. It's a complicated system. But I want to be known for being more than a smart player."

For now, he's also known as the player in dreadlocks, a look he's had for three years. He was about to cut his shoulder-length hair when his girlfriend, and her friends, experimented with his hair.

"I thought it would be for the short term," he said. "But it grew on me."

Which is what he's doing with the Redskins coaches.