On Super Bowl Sunday, Theta Delta Chi might have been the most excited place on campus. At the Chapin House fraternity, about 50 members of the Brown football team gathered to watch their former teammate, Zak DeOssie '07, play as a long snapper and special-teams player for the New York Giants.
"Whenever he was on the field or made a play, there was just a general excitement in the room," said Brown linebacker Jonathan May '09.
"It pretty much turned us all into Giants fans," added quarterback and Theta Delta Chi President Michael Dougherty '09.
The atmosphere was particularly electric on the New England Patriot's final kickoff return when DeOssie made the tackle on the Patriots' Laurence Maroney at the New England 26-yard line.
"We were all going nuts, it got pretty crazy," Dougherty said. "It was really fun to see him out there."
On Tuesday, several members of the team went down to New York to see the Giants' victory parade and reunite with their former teammate. Nearly all of the team members have gotten in touch with DeOssie since the Super Bowl. DeOssie also plans to visit Brown within the next few weeks. Dougherty said the team is looking forward to seeing him.
"He's pretty pumped, and it should be fun when he comes back to visit," he said. "We're kind of over the shock of seeing him in the NFL ... but it's still great to watch him."
But DeOssie did not have the whole-hearted support of all of his Brown teammates, as some regional pride and old allegiances outweighed their personal connection to DeOssie.
"The New Englanders ... were still rooting for the Pats, so we were giving them a hard time," Dougherty said. "It made the night fun."
Though DeOssie's success failed to soften the blow for Patriots fans, his performance made the night special for others.
"It was great, because we know the types of people that are coming out of the program," May said. "So to see a player like that is just really inspiring."
