Tim Scharf sits at his parents’ home in Rockford, waiting for a telephone call.
The former Northwestern linebacker is all but ready to give up on his dream of playing in the NFL after the New York Jets cut him.
“If you’re not somewhere by the end of this week, that’s the end of it,” Scharf said in a telephone interview. “I don’t want to give up on it. But you’ve got to get on with your life.”
That’s what Greg Bellisari was thinking by the end of the NFL draft last spring. Some 240 names had been called, but not his. Bellisari, a standout linebacker at Ohio State, signed a free-agent contract with Tampa Bay even as he prepared to begin applying to medical schools.
But as the NFL season kicks off this weekend, Bellisari is putting his medical career on hold. He’s backing up Hardy Nickerson at middle linebacker when the Buccaneers meet San Francisco.
“I want to show I can play at the highest level before I move on to other things,” Bellisari told a reporter in Tampa last week.
The tales provide a glimpse into the unpredictable world of professional football. Both Scharf and Bellisari had fine college careers with teams that won the Big Ten and played in the Rose Bowl. They’re about the same size (Scharf is 6-1 1/4 and 236 pounds; Bellisari is 6 feet, 236).
Their schools also bear similarities. Northwestern and Ohio State finished 1-2 in the Big Ten in 1995 and split the Big Ten title last year. Because of a scheduling quirk, they couldn’t settle the debate over which was the better team. But the draft provides fuel for either opinion.
Northwestern fans can say, with justification, that head coach Gary Barnett got more mileage out of his talent than did Ohio State head coach John Cooper.
But the Buckeyes can claim the intangible recruiting benefits that accrue when a school is viewed as a pipeline to the NFL.
Of the 1995 Northwestern Rose Bowl team, only one draftee, running back Darnell Autry, made his team. And Bears coach Dave Wannstedt said Autry might have been cut if he hadn’t turned in a strong performance in the final exhibition.
By contrast, Ohio State’s 1996 Rose Bowl team produced seven draft picks, including offensive tackle Orlando Pace, the first selection overall. Six made their teams and the seventh, Matt Finkes, caught on with the Jets after being released by Carolina. And then there was Bellisari, a free agent.
Only Arizona State, knocked off by the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl, Miami and Nebraska had more players drafted last spring, with eight apiece.
“What happens is, depending on the year, there are eight-10-14 guys at the top of the list that are can’t-miss guys,” veteran talent scout Gil Brandt said. “Then there’s 30-40 players that all look alike. Then there’s the rest, who all have something wrong with them–speed, size, whatever.”
Both Scharf and Bellisari fit into the latter category. Scouts looked at Bellisari’s 4.75 40-yard dash and saw someone who would never be able to catch an NFL running back in the flat.
“I came into Ohio State as an undersized linebacker,” Bellisari said. “And I came out of Ohio State as an undersized linebacker. I don’t understand why there’s such an emphasis on size and speed. I’ve always thought the biggest factor is what you can do on the football field.”
Scharf played in Pat Fitzgerald’s shadow in college, but he had terrific linebacker speed–4.56 in the 40–and superb athleticism. His 34-inch vertical leap at the NFL scouting combine had officials shaking their heads.
But Scharf had to prove that he was not, as scouts put it, a “workout wonder” who wouldn’t be able to play.
“Workout numbers do not translate over to the field,” draftnik Joel Buchsbaum wrote in his Pro Football Weekly draft preview. “Looks better on paper than he does on the field.”
Still, new Jets head coach Bill Parcells figured Scharf was worth a look, and a sixth-round pick.
So how did the undrafted Bellisari hit and the drafted Scharf miss?
“I’ve been doing this for years and I still can’t tell you why things happen,” Brandt said.
Though Tampa Bay has a strong linebacking corps, Bellisari had an advocate on the coaching staff: linebackers coach Lovie Smith, who came to know Bellisari while serving as an assistant at Ohio State in 1995. Had it not been for Smith, Bellisari might not have even signed with Tampa Bay.
Scharf also had a supporter on the coaching staff–Parcells. But while Parcells liked Scharf, when cutdown day came he could only offer praise, not a position.
“The little things make such a difference,” Scharf said. “It’s all timing. You definitely have to be in the right place at the right time.”
