Senior Gino Gordon, co-recipient of the 2010 Ivy League Player of the Year award, is arguably Harvard’s most recognizable name.
“He’s one of those tremendously elusive backs, an all purpose back,” Murphy said. “He’s an outstanding runner. When we put him in the slot, he’s an outstanding receiver. There’s not a lot of guys who can do it all. He’d also be an excellent third down back because he’s an elusive pick-up guy.”
While the Crimson’s final two competing athletes, Obi and Osborne (known to teammates as “Ozzy”), may not have made as many highlight-reel plays as Gordon, Iannuzzi, and Zych, they have helped Harvard maintain its dominance along the line of scrimmage on both offense and defense.
Fittingly, the pair shared the Joseph E. Wolf award given to the team’s top interior linemen. While both are small for their position—at least by NFL standards—they make up for it with their speed, instincts, and versatility.
“Chuks probably need to get a little bit bigger to play inside at the NFL level, but he’s a big, strong, athletic, physical defensive lineman,” Murphy said. “He may be an end at their level, he was a tackle at our level...Ozzy, kind of the same thing. Ozzy’s a very athletic offensive lineman, was a tight end in high school, probably just a tad light right now.”
The five athletes began training with Frazier just after the Harvard-Yale game to prepare themselves for the tests.
“Training with coach Frazier’s been great,” Zych said. “He’s very good...If you asked any of us, we’d all say coach Frazier did a great job.”
The coming months will reveal whether these five Crimson standouts will be able to continue their football careers. But a love of the game was enough to keep them coming back for another go on the gridiron.
“I think I would be lying to say I came to Harvard expecting to play pro football,” Zych said. “I came to Harvard for the school and to play football...I had a great opportunity, and I’d love to try it.”
—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.