The younger DeOssie is tough, of course. He’s in the NFL, isn’t he? But he’s a little more, shall we say, civilized than his dad was. Dad is all polished up now, a longtime Boston electronic media mainstay. Good grief, he’s even a restaurateur. But right here in Indianapolis, his chief claim to fame is that he is the proudest of proud poppas, a Super Bowl-winning long snapper with a Super Bowl-winning Pro Bowl son going for a second ring.
“Anything your kids do, you just revel in it,’’ said DeOssie the elder. “Playing football was fun, but this is infinitely more exciting.’’
Zak DeOssie is 27 years old and settled into a career as a long snapper and special teamer that should keep him employed for a long time. He was a linebacker at Phillips Andover and Brown, and it was not a given that he would enter the family business and make a living by snapping the football. But when it was presented to him, he recognized the value it could have for his career.
“I knew it would help me, coming from a small school,’’ he said.
That’s not to say that he has any regrets about the path he took to get here.
On Andover: “That’s the place where I became a young man. It was hard academically at first, but it turned out to be the best place for me.’’
On Brown: “The best decision I ever made. I had other Ivy offers and other small school offers and even some offers from schools that play at a higher level, but the coaching staff, and, more importantly, the academics, were what I wanted. And it was close enough to home [North Andover], but not too close.’’
He always had the backing any young person needs from home.
“I agreed with the Brown decision 100 percent,’’ said Steve. “We brought him up to be a good man, a good student, and everything else will fall into place.’’
A three-time All-Ivy linebacker, Zak never was worried about the NFL overlooking him.
“The way I see it,’’ he said, “if you deserve to be in the NFL, they will find you.’’
