Leading the way, as always, is the incomparable Nick Hartigan '06. The star running back was recently invited to participate in the East-West Shrine game, an all-star game for college seniors. The Jan. 21, 2006 game will give Hartigan another opportunity to showcase his talent in front of NFL scouts. The game will feature players from such storied college football programs as the University of Michigan, Oklahoma University and the University of Southern California. Hartigan will join Cornell offensive lineman Kevin Boothe in representing the Ivy League.
Hartigan was also honored with the NCAA Top VIII Award, given annually to eight student-athletes for their "athletic success, academic achievements and community service," by the NCAA Honors Committee. He will receive his award Jan. 7 at the NCAA Honors Celebration in Indianapolis.
In the spirit of the season, Hartigan did not hog all the awards for himself. Hartigan, defensive back Jamie Gasparella '06 and linebacker Zak DeOssie '07 were all named to the Associated Press All-American team. Hartigan was a first-team selection while both Gasparella and DeOssie garnered third-team honors.
Hartigan was selected as a first team All-American by all four major organizations that name all-star teams. In addition to the AP squad, Hartigan was selected to the Walter Camp team, the Sports Network team and the American Football Coaches Association team.
It marks the first time in school history that the Bears have had multiple players chosen for the AP team. Brown had had only nine other players ever selected to the squad, which DeOssie described as "the most legitimate" of all the teams, prior to 2005.
The award was even more poignant for the junior linebacker since he missed four games this season due to injury. "It is a true honor to be named by the biggest (one) of them all," he said. "Since I only played in six games and everyone else played in 12 basically, it's really nice to be recognized for my play this year."
DeOssie's father, Steve, was a standout linebacker at Boston College and was the first to find out about his selection and congratulated him for "carrying on the family tradition." Steve had four impressive seasons in college although he never was named to the All-American team.
Gasparella's selection comes on the heels of his unanimous first team All-Ivy selection in November. Gasparella led the Bears in interceptions this season with seven, good for second place on Brown's single season list.
"It's definitely an honor to be named to a team with the best players in the whole nation on it," he said. "It's nice to see how you match up with players from across the country. I'm real happy for Nick and Zak as well, especially Zak - you can see how much respect people have for him and the way he plays since he missed so much time (and still made the team)."
Brown's three nominations also reflect the prestige with which the program is being viewed on a national level. Although the Ivy League forbids its teams from participating in the postseason and limits its football teams to 10-game schedules, its players and teams have increasingly been recognized for their competitiveness in recent years.
"The awards are great for Brown but they are important for the Ivy League, too," Gasparella said. "The attention that guys like Jay McCareins (a defensive back from Princeton who is a potential NFL draft pick and was also a first-team All American) and Nick have generated is great for the whole league. It's nice to get some recognition and maybe one day (the Ivy League) will be able to (participate) in the playoffs and show what we can do (as a league)."
The Bears will celebrate their first-ever outright Ivy League championship at a banquet on Feb. 4. The team will also receive its championship rings at the dinner.
