Hatch ready to tackle the next level

Jeff Hatch isn't the kind of guy that lets things get in the way of his dreams -- literally.

So last month, when an early morning phone call roused the Penn football team's outgoing senior offensive tackle from his slumber, not even the news coming from the other end could keep him from thinking of anything other than laying back down on his pillow.

With an ear to the receiver, Hatch groggily heard James Urban's excited voice as the director of Penn football operations told Hatch that he had just been invited to play in the 64th annual Blue-Gray All Star Football Classic, a seniors-only bowl game held on Christmas Day in Montgomery, Ala., that attracts scores of NFL scouts as well as a national television audience.

"I was like, 'Cool. That's great,'" Hatch recalled. "Then I said, 'I'm going back to sleep.'"

No matter that the morning's news meant Hatch's pro football dreams were a step closer to coming true. At that moment, Hatch was just like any other college guy: all he wanted was his sleep.

"I was excited," Hatch said, "but man, it could have waited a couple more hours."

Since that day, though, the NFL hopeful hasn't had much time to rest.

At 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, it's hard to miss Hatch on a football field. Just look for the biggest guy on the line of scrimmage, and chances are it's him.

Maybe that's why the scouts started keeping an eye on Penn's behemoth tackle as the Red and Blue attempted to defend their Ivy title last season.

By the end of the season -- in which Penn (8-1) finished second in the Ancient Eight and ranked No. 22 in the USA Today/ESPN Division I-AA national poll -- the scouts liked what they had seen.

So had the national media, which selected Hatch as an Associated Press I-AA third team All-American on Dec.11, and the country's coaches, who named the unanimous first-team All-Ivy player to the American Football Coaches Association I-AA All-America team on Dec. 19.

"Being All-American, that's the biggest honor you can receive," Hatch said. "Especially for an [offensive] lineman, you never get recognition... so it's great to be given these awards."

The award from the scouts came on Dec. 12 with that early morning phone call and the invitation to play in the Blue-Gray game.

More than just a chance for seniors whose teams did not get invited to a bowl game to still participate in the most prominent part of the college football season, the game is an opportunity for representatives from NFL teams to get an early look at 60 prime candidates for April's NFL draft.

"You don't get invited to that game unless NFL teams call up... and say, 'We want to see this player play,'" Hatch said.

And the scouts don't waste any time, either.

After a flight to Atlanta and a two and a half hour bus ride to Montgomery's Embassy Suites hotel, Hatch thought he'd get a little time to relax before the week's worth of events leading up to the game heated up. He was wrong.

"I put down my bags, didn't even get to check into my room and... I had to get a physical," Hatch said.

Among other things, that physical involved walking onto a stage in front of a slew of scouts, where Hatch's height and weight were measured and announced.

"I'm big, but I'm lean, and that is not what an offensive lineman looks like," Hatch said. "Most of [them] are pretty sloppy and fat-looking. That's a big draw for scouts, being my size and still being able to move."

That's exactly how Penn football coach Al Bagnoli felt three years ago, when he tried convincing Hatch that moving from the defensive to the offensive line would increase the player's chances of making it to the next level.

"I felt all along that someone with that body type would intrigue a lot of NFL people," Bagnoli said.

Hatch finally heeded his coach's advise before his junior year, and the change eventually led to a ticket to Montgomery.

The physical and weigh-in, though, weren't all that was in store for Hatch that day.

First the New York Giants, then other teams asked Hatch to take nearly two-hour long psychological tests with both true-false questions and questions that Hatch said asked to complete sentences such as, "'Referees,' and then just blanks."

The series of evaluations was so time-consuming that, after arriving at the hotel at 2:30 p.m., Hatch didn't even see his room until after eight o'clock.

And when he finally got there, "There [were] like 10 messages on the machine from teams [asking for interviews]."

"There wasn't a free minute for the first two days." Hatch said. "It was pretty intense."

The pressure didn't stay indoors, either.

On Thursday -- the day after players and coaches arrived in Montgomery -- Hatch and the Blue squad took a 1 p.m. bus to the practice field to run through a half hour of drills in front of the scouts.

Hatch was somewhat prepared for the scene surrounding this practice after talking with former Penn running back Jim Finn, who participated in the 1998 Blue-Gray game and currently plays for the Indianapolis Colts.

But what Hatch saw through the window as the bus approached the field that first day still made his jaw drop.

"We pull up to the field, and from a half-mile away you can just see the field circled with 350 scouts," he said. "It was just like, 'Whoa.'"

For obvious reasons, the practices were intense, with 10 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of full-contact drills in which Hatch had the chance to test himself against some of the best players in college football before they all returned to the hotel.

"My first contact was a one-on-one pass rush with this [defensive] end from Notre Dame," he said. "It was just right into it."

A similar pattern followed the next two days, with non-practice time filled by more tests and interviews until the scouts departed after Saturday's practices.

With the evaluators gone, the final two days of practice were relaxed, and the players had more free time to enjoy themselves.

But after a Christmas Eve dinner for the players and their families -- Hatch's parents, Paul and Hope, had arrived on the 23rd -- things started winding back up as game time neared.

By kickoff, with the stadium packed with both fans and scouts and TV cameras sending the game all over the nation, Hatch and the rest of the players were fired up, fueled by thoughts of the implications of the game.

"This is a big game that gets evaluated by pro scouts," Hatch said. "That's a game that everyone will watch and critique you on, so it's intense for that reason."

The intensity didn't phase Hatch, whom Blue squad offensive head coach Dirk Koetter entrusted with the left tackle position.

"I think [that] is very indicative of how they felt about him, because that's the marquee position in the [offensive] line," said Bagnoli, who watched the game on TV.

Hatch lived up to expectations early.

On two consecutive goal line series in the first quarter, Koetter called plays that were designed for the tackle to clear a lane into the end zone for the running back.

Wearing his Penn helmet and a dark blue jersey, Hatch came through both times, driving his defender back to open up the crucial short-yard runs that lead to a 28-10 Blue victory.

"I was happy, number one, that the coaches wanted to run behind me and score the touchdown -- they had the confidence in me to do that," he said. "And then for me to make a good block, it was good."

Because the Blue had only two offensive tackles on its roster, Hatch played the entire game, giving the scouts in attendance and the TV audience a good look at his abilities and stamina.

"He slowed down a bit in the second half," Bagnoli said, "but I thought overall he played very well, and at times was dominating, especially early in the game."

Hatch, too, was pleased with his performance, not just in the game but throughout the entire week.

"I felt real good about this experience," he said. "I met cool guys, played the way I would have like to played, interviewed the way I wanted to interview and just had a good time."

Bagnoli described the Blue-Gray game as "one of the stepping stones" to selection in the NFL draft -- not a direct ticket into the pros, but an indicator that the interest is there.

Hatch has adopted the same philosophy, and since the game the former Penn player and student -- he completed the last of his College requirements in December -- has taken further steps to make his NFL dreams a reality.

On New Year's Eve Hatch signed with veteran agent Alan Herman, who represents Finn along with many other NFL players. And on Tuesday the Millersville, Md., native traveled to Fair Lawn, N.J., to begin in the Parisi School's combine preparation program, where he will train until the NFL combine on March 1.

From now on, Hatch knows he cannot afford to rest until draft day, where many say he will be drafted in the mid rounds of the 2002 NFL Draft.

"They're saying the fourth or fifth round -- someone even said third, but I'm not listening to that," Hatch said. "I can only improve my stock, really."

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