Fabish jets to Atlanta for Falcons minicamp

The former Penn wide receiver hopes to latch on as a kick returner. Mark Fabish broke his left shoulder in a game against Brown last October, forcing the senior wide receiver to miss all but the last game of the Penn football team's season. It appeared as if that would be the end of his football career. Well, maybe not. Fabish is leaving tonight for Atlanta, and, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, he'll take part in the Atlanta Falcons' minicamp. A good performance there could earn him a contract and an invitation to Falcons training camp this summer, where Fabish would get his shot at making the team for the 1997 NFL season. "I knew I wasn't done playing football yet," Fabish said. "This has been a goal of mine since the season ended." That was when Fabish and his agent assembled a tape of his college highlights and sent it out to various NFL teams, trying to get their attention. "We got it out to everybody, to teams that we figured would have a need for what I could provide," Fabish said. While he waited, Fabish kept himself in shape. Former Quakers receiver Miles Macik, a 1996 graduate who spent last season with the Detroit Lions, came back to the Philadelphia area in February. While in town, he worked out with Fabish and senior Aman Abye, a backup running back last season. When Macik left for his native Michigan in March, Fabish and Abye kept up their workout routine. They even tried out for the new Arena Football League teams in New York and New Jersey. Although it seems rather ironic now, the arena teams weren't interested. "We got a lot of praise from the coaches, but nothing came of it," Fabish said. "It was kind of disappointing, but I'm glad I stayed with it because now I have this opportunity. Hopefully something will happen for Aman, too." Before the NFL draft, which took place last weekend, Fabish worked out with the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants and says he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds. But none of the teams seemed to be as interested as the Falcons, for whom he did not work out. Fabish said Atlanta has been in contact with his agent for the last week-and-a-half or so. Then Sunday, right after the conclusion of the draft, Fabish got the invitation to minicamp. "I didn't know how it would materialize," Fabish said. "It was a waiting game." Over his four years at Penn, Fabish, listed at 5'10'' and 166 pounds, caught 69 balls for 928 yards and nine touchdowns. He also returned three punts for touchdowns, and that's how he's most likely to find a spot with the Falcons. "They see me as a punt returner who's capable of receiving," Fabish said. "Because of my height, I'm not a receiver first." Under new coach Dan Reeves, Atlanta currently has just three receivers on its roster, and the Falcons did not select any wideouts in the draft. Eric Metcalf, a wide receiver who returned punts for Atlanta last year, is an unrestricted free agent and has yet to sign.

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