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NFL beckons for another Yale receiver
July/August 2004
by Carl Bialik ’01

April 25 was a fine day for Nate Lawrie ’04 to get drafted by the National Football League.

The second day of the draft coincided with Tang, the annual party sponsored by Lawrie’s fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon. While students celebrated spring and beer in the DKE courtyard, Lawrie found himself in a TV room inside, where ESPN’s live coverage of the draft was playing. In the sixth round, as the record-setting Yale tight end was sitting with his parents on the couch, surrounded by a clutch of frat brothers, teammates, and alumni, his cell phone rang.

Everyone fell quiet. Then the onlookers heard Lawrie say, “Hey, Coach Gruden.”

“He asked if I’d like to come down and play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” Lawrie says. “I was pretty giddy at the time.” When Lawrie said, “Yeah, I’d love to be a Buc,” the room broke out in cheers. After the Bucs named him their sixth-round pick, Lawrie spent 40 minutes on the phone with friends and family, then headed out to Tang.

Last fall, Lawrie ascended to pro-prospect status by leading the Bulldogs with 72 catches, a school record for the position. He’s also 6'-6” and weighs 266 pounds—immense for an Ivy League tight end.

Tampa Bay tight end coach Ron Middleton became a believer after watching tape of Lawrie in the Blue-Gray game, an annual showcase for college seniors with pro aspirations. “His blocking was outstanding,” Middleton says. “That was the biggest question we had,” since Lawrie primarily ran pass-catching routes in college.

Lawrie follows former Yale wide receiver Eric Johnson '01 on the path to the pros. Johnson was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round in 2001 and started 24 of his first 28 games at tight end before an injury knocked him out for more than a season. Johnson expects to return this fall.

“Eric’s success certainly has turned some heads and helped the image of Ivy players,” says Yale coach Jack Siedlecki. Ivy stars mostly had been ignored by the NFL in the decades after the league left Division I-A in 1982, but in the post-Eric Johnson era, pro scouts are again interested in Bulldogs; 30 of 32 NFL teams visited the staff this season.

For Johnson, the toughest part of adjusting to the pros was speed. “It’s a lot like going from high school to college,” he says. Siedlecki says the same will hold for Lawrie: “He has all the physical attributes. Now everyone he lines up against has them too.”

The Bucs will likely cut two or three of the six tight ends on their roster before the season starts, so Lawrie must still prove himself. Middleton says one factor will be the ability to pitch in on special teams, a plus for Lawrie, who averaged 35 yards as Yale’s punter last season.

“Can you do it, or can’t you? It’s really cut and dried,” says Middleton. “From what I’ve seen on tape and the things I’ve seen him do in mini-camp here, I think Nate’s going to be fine.”  

Sports Shorts

The women’s sailing team won its first national championship this spring in just its third year as a varsity sport. The team edged out Harvard to win the Gerald C. Miller trophy at the North American Championship in Cascade Locks, Oregon, May 26-28.

It was a good year for Yale women on the water: the women’s crew had its best-ever finish at the NCAA championship in Rancho Cordova, California, coming in second behind Brown. It was the team’s fifth appearance at the NCAA nationals.

The Harvard crew was expected to sweep the 138th Yale-Harvard Regatta in New London, and they performed as expected. Coming off their second straight national championship season, the Crimson won the four-mile varsity race by 24.7 seconds. The good news for Yale? Last year it was 50 seconds.

Isabelle Kinsolving '02 has earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic sailing team in Athens this summer. Kinsolving, who played varsity ice hockey at Yale, also participated in club sailing as an undergraduate.

Ezra Stiles College finished first in the intramural athletic standings for 2003-2004 to win its ninth Tyng Cup. Saybrook placed second and Jonathan Edwards third. With 11 apiece, Timothy Dwight and Pierson have won the most Tyng Cups since the prize’s inception in 1933.

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