Nassib's Journey From Nobody To NFL Draft Prospect

INDIANAPOLIS -- Carl Nassib is Evan Mathis without the scruffy beard, long hair, pet chihuahua and fondness for Englebert Humperdinck music.

The defensive end out of Penn State and Malvern Prep, who led the nation in quarterback sacks last season with 17 ½, has the same kind of dry sense of humor as the ex-Eagle offensive lineman.

Nassib, who was a biology major at Penn State, had previously expressed an interest in going to medical school and becoming a doctor after his football career is over.

Asked Saturday at the NFL scouting combine what kind of doctor he wants to be, he said a pediatrician.

Why a pediatrician?

"I don't know, man,'' he said. "Kids and dogs. I get along with kids and dogs really well.''

Nassib is one of five Penn State players participating in the combine along with fellow Nittany Lion defensive linemen Austin Johnson and Anthony Zettel, quarterback Christian Hackenberg and safety Jordan Lucas.

That he's here is something not many other people besides himself would have envisioned a few years ago.

He never started a game at Malvern Prep and didn't receive a single Division I scholarship offer.

Bill O'Brien invited the then 6-5, 215-pound defensive end from West Chester to walk on. But even after watching Nassib every day for two years, O'Brien doubted the kid ever was going to amount to much as a football player.

When Nassib told O'Brien that he wanted to play in the NFL someday, the former Nittany Lion coach looked at him like he was crazy. Pretty much told Nassib he had a better chance of marrying Selena Gomez than playing in the NFL.

"It was interesting,'' Nassib said Saturday. "He didn't necessarily agree with my ambitions. He told me how he felt and I took it as he said it.

"But I never cared what other people thought about my size and my abilities. I was always confident in myself.''

Nassib grew two inches and added more than 60 pounds of muscle and bulk during his five years at Penn State. But he still didn't become a starter until last season.

He sure made up for lost time, though. His sack exploits earned him the Hendricks Award as the nation's top defensive end and the Lombardi Award as the nation's top defensive linemen.

Take that, Bill O'Brien.

"I mean there's some satisfaction in proving any person wrong,'' Nassib admitted. "But I don't hold anything against coach O'Brien. Without his motivation I don't know if I would be here. He's a big part of my success at Penn State. I'm thankful for him and thankful for what he taught me.''

In addition to the 17 ½ sacks, the 6-7, 277-pound Nassib also had six forced fumbles last season, which is four more than he had the rest of his career at Penn State.

He credited Penn State defensive line coach Sean Spencer for that.

"Coach Spencer always talks about aiming for the ball when you get a chance,'' he said. "So I owe a lot of that to him. All of that technique.''

Nassib's own hard work was the biggest reason for his success last season. He basically transformed himself into a good player.

"I was given this opportunity that I created,'' he said. "Every day I went out and tried to make the best of it.

"My mentality changed. Going into last season, I knew I was going to be in a leadership role. I took full responsibility of that. I had people counting on me to step up. So I took that responsibility very seriously and worked very hard to succeed.''

Carl is about to become the second Nassib to play in the NFL. His older brother Ryan is the Giants' backup quarterback behind Eli Manning.

Asked what would be better, playing with his brother or against him, Nassib said, "Both scenerios sound pretty awesome. So awesome.''