Balestracci Sets Sights on Pro Career

Here’s a math problem for you:

Take the captain of the Harvard football team. Add four years as a starter and team-leader in tackles, including 96 tackles, 11 sacks, 21 tackles for lost yardage, two forced fumbles and five pass breakups in his senior year alone.

Now factor in a second-team Division I-AA All-American Selection and the fact that he was the first football player to be named first team All-Ivy four straight times.

Throw in a shelf-full of other accolades, including a four-time All-New England pick and a finalist for the Buck Buchanan award, given to the best defensive player in D I-AA, and what is the grand total?

The easy answer would be Dante Balestracci.

But does the calculation sum up to a future beyond NCAA football?

The answer to that question will be revealed during this weekend’s 2004 NFL Draft, when Balestracci hopes to follow in the footsteps of free agents Carl Morris ’03 and Jamil Soriano ’03—or, at best, draftee Isaiah Kacyvenski ’00.

Kacyvenski, a standout Crimson middle linebacker before Balestracci, was picked in the fourth round of the 2000 draft—the highest pick ever for a Harvard football alum—and now sees substantial playing time with the Seattle Seahawks.

But despite these tantalizing already-blazed trails of professional success, Balestracci said, he is attempting to head into the weekend with no expectations.

“I have to hope for the best, and be prepared for everything not to fall into place the way I imagine,” Balestracci says.

JUST IMAGINE

What is the prime scenario for the 2003 Crimson captain? At best, Balestracci could emerge as a sleeper pick and be chosen in the late rounds of the draft. Failing that, the next option is to be signed as a priority free agent, like Morris and Soriano last year.

“There’s a pretty vague assessment of later rounds, they don’t give you as much information,” Balestracci says. “They just finished with [predicting] the first two rounds, so later in the week more teams will be in contact with my agent.”

Balestracci doesn’t have to look back any further than 2003 for an example of the uncertainty of draft weekend.

Last year Morris—the Harvard record-holder in eight of nine receiving categories and one of the top wide receivers in Ivy League history—was expected to be picked late in the draft. Instead, he ended up waiting for a free-agent signing to be his ticket into the pros.

But the hazy start has not had a long term affect on his NFL career—Morris was eventually signed to the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad and is currently having success in NFL Europe.

Balestracci takes comfort from his example, and the similar story of offensive lineman Soriano, a free agent signed to the New England Patriots’ practice squad also playing in the NFL Europe this spring.

“It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get drafted,” he says. “I’m just looking realistically.”

Soriano echoes his sentiment.

“Keep working hard,” Soriano offers as advice to the next generation of Harvard NFL prospects. “If you can play, you can play. Don’t get discouraged.”

WAITING GAME

At this point the decision is out of his hands, but in the off-season Balestracci has been training tirelessly to be in top condition. From the end of the Harvard football season in November to spring break in March, Balestracci trainedregularly with the assistance of Harvard Athletics strength and conditioning coaches Sean Hayes and Jodi Nash, along with former teammate Jack Fadule ’03. After spring break came Pro Days, mini-combines where scouts could check out the incoming draft class.

After that, Balestracci says, it’s just been a matter of patience.

“I’ve been training in the weight room, speed training, sprints and stuff,” he says. “Since [spring break] it’s just been a waiting game, and it will be a waiting game.”

Admittedly, Balestracci’s focus on the final prize may have taken precedence over some of his other obligations—like finishing up his senior year, for instance.

“Most if not all of my efforts have been on preparing,” he admits, likening the training to the spring practices currently being undertaken by the Harvard football team. “It’s an extra mental effort—a bigger stage, more pressure.”

Nevertheless, it’s absolutely been worth the toil.

“I’ve enjoyed the whole process—I’m anxious to see how everything plays out this weekend,” Balestracci says.

GOOD COMPANY

Balestracci isn’t the only Ivy player looking to be picked this weekend. Penn, which went undefeated this year, offers up a solid senior class that includes the 2003 Ivy League Player of the Year quarterback Mike Mitchell. Other Ivy standouts are tight ends Nate Lawrie of Yale and Casey Cramer of Dartmouth, both of whom could be nabbed in the late rounds.

“They’re both getting looks, being scouted like I was,” Balestracci says of Cramer and Lawrie.

Regardless of the outcome of these final calculations, when the waiting comes to an end this weekend Balestracci will make an optimistic attitude the number one priority.

“That’s the one piece of advice everyone has given me: stay positive,” he says.

And Morris, a veteran of the experience, adds another tip:

“Do whatever it takes to make it. It’s a dream come true.”

—Staff writer Lisa J. Kennelly can be reached at kennell@fas.harvard.edu.