Kevin Vogelsang

Today’s issue of USA Today has a great write-up highlighting two of my

Me, Deron Brown, Mike Fitzgerald, Rick Mancuso

best friends, Deron Brown and Mike Fitzgerald.  You can check it out by going here.

USA Today’s Kelly Whiteside did a good job with the write-up, but there is always more to a story that gets the spotlight in a national media outlet.

Since I played for MIT Football for 4 years and played with Deron and Fitz for 3, I thought I’d add a few thoughts:

Deron Brown didn’t get into MIT because he’s good at football.  None of us did.  Back when I got admitted to MIT, I had a number of people say to me, “You got into MIT?  Oh, you’re a football player, that’s why…”  As if to say, I got a free pass.

I saw similar sentiments in the comments of the article. Don’t believe it.  Deron Brown got into MIT because he understands how to commit to something, work hard at it, and perform. You can show you know how to do that in many arenas, although athletics might be one of the best in my opinion.

Don’t underestimate the adverse effects of going to school at MIT.  The stress, less than ideal diet, lack of lifting, and lack of sleep are in complete opposition of what a top-notch athlete needs to perform.  I would lose over 2o pounds over the course of the season (which is significant when you’re a wide receiver with not a lot of weight to lose anyway).

(With this in mind, I’d love to see what an NFL team could do with a guy like Deron once they got him on a good diet and a weight program.)

Mike Fitzgerald isn’t just a wizard statistician.  He’s also one of the best wideouts to play at MIT. He also played in the Massachusett’s All-Star Game in high school.  And to stress the point, he did pick Lester Hudson for the Celtics.  If I were the Celtics, I’d be offering Mike Fitzgerald (and Kyle Johnson)  a position right now.  In 5 years, they’ll likely be the best brains in the sports management business.

Robert "The UtzBus" Utz

Don’t forget the supporting cast.  Last year, MIT had a .500 record (which admittedly was disappointing considering the talent we had, MIT takes its toll) and Deron had his breakout year thanks to guys like Robert “The UtzBus” Utz (MIT Fullback, currently grad student at Maryland) and James Oleinik (DIII All-American Lineman, bunch of other academic and athletic awards as well).

Only a select few can make it into MIT and make the four-year commitment to playing varsity football and performing at a high level.  Guys like Deron, Fitzy, James, and UtzBus are the type of guys you want on your team, no matter the context, because when you go to bat, and you’re in the arena, you know you got guys behind you that know how to  take care of business.  Few understand that like they do.

Kevin
11.3.2009