Ison will chose on the field or in his field?

Local Sports

Discussion

April 27, 2007

By Pete Chiodo The Meadville Tribune Fri Apr 27, 2007, 11:51 PM EDT

As arguably the best running back to come out of the French Creek Valley Conference, former Lakeview star Deke Ison is better known for running himself ragged on the football field.

However, with his academic career at Youngstown State University winding down, Ison can now be found running himself ragged for a different reason.

“I’m just trying to graduate,” said a harried Ison by phone, who was in between study sessions at the library and crisscrossing the YSU campus searching for a misplaced flash drive that contained a term paper.

“I only have three classes, but they made them tough.”

Ison is aiming for a Criminal Justice degree with a focus on corrections and minor in pre-law, which has him thinking about moving on to law school or the police academy after graduation.

But there is also the possibility of a professional football career for the former Penguins fullback. And this could leave Ison with a tough decision to make in the coming weeks — whether to get a job in his field or stick it out on the football field.

The NFL draft begins today. However, Ison is realistic about his chances there.

“Getting drafted is going to be tough,” he said, “especially from the fullback point of view. The NFL takes so few. And even though I was happy to be a team player here (at YSU), I can’t help but think that that hurt my chances.”

During his four years with the Penguins, Ison didn’t make much of a splash on the stat books. A big change from his high school days, in which he destroyed just about every rushing record in the French Creek Valley Conference; including career yards (4,008), career touchdowns (42), yards in a season (2,277) as well as yards in a game (349).

For YSU, Ison carried the ball only 78 times for 280 yards and four touchdowns — stats he could have compiled in one or two games as a Sailor. He also had 66 career receptions for 592 yards and six touchdowns.

Yet, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a valued member of the Penguins offense. The 6-foot, 230-pound bulldozer was quite good at what he did. In fact, Ison was picked for the All-Gateway Football Conference’s first team twice in his career. He became the first Penguin offensive player to make the team as a sophomore. Then he earned back-to-back honors in his junior season.

“He was the best fullback in our conference,” said YSU assistant head coach and running backs coach Sam Eddy. “He was the best blocking fullback we’ve had in the 14 years that I’ve been here. Tremendous hands. He had as good a pair of hands as anyone on the team.

“Going into the spring, you look at your personnel, and you try to put your best 11 guys on the field. Deke was a guy that we couldn’t take off the field. We would even teach him to play some tight end, teach him some things where we couldn’t take him off the field.

Injuries and a little off-the-field silliness limited Ison’s playing time as a senior. This will also hinder his chances at being drafted.

Besides that, the top fullbacks in the nation won’t even get picked until the fifth or sixth rounds. And Ison is coming from a Division I-AA school with a lot of intangibles to his credit.

However, signing on as a free agent is still a possibility. He’s spoken informally with some NFL organizations — the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New York Giants, the Indianapolis Colts — who have seen him do his stuff at different workouts around the country.

And even if free-agent signing doesn’t pan out, there is still Canadian football or Arena football to consider. But here is where Ison gets hesitant.

“I’ve talked to every arena team,” he said. “Most of the teams I’ve talked to have been arena teams. My agent wants me to look at some teams in Canada. But that’s a tough thing for me personally.

“I’ve been going to school for five years. And if I don’t get drafted, then comes the issue: Do I want to play or use my degree, where I could possibly start out making $50,000 or $60,000 a year.”

“You never want to be that guy that had a great career in high school and college, but doesn’t know when to quit, who just hangs in there playing for bad teams, making no money, just because you don’t want to give it up.”

Pete Chiodo can be reached at 724-6370 ext. 275 or by e-mail at pchiodo@meadvilletribune.com.

Text Only

Local Sports

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Levis scores 26 as Panthers make playoff case
SAEGERTOWN — Eight or six?
That is a question Saegertown and three fellow District 10 Class A girls basketball teams have been pondering over the last couple of weeks.

February 14, 2012
GIRLS BASKETBALL: Hornets swarm past Lady Bulldogs
It was a little too close for comfort for Hickory, which led Meadville by just five points early in the fourth quarter.
However, the Hornets put together a strong effort down the stretch and pulled away for a 56-40 win over the Lady Bulldogs during senior night on Monday at the House of Thrills.

February 14, 2012
Flames edge Nailers
Usually it takes a teenager a court order to get out of bed before noon on a weekend.

February 13, 2012
BOYS BASKETBALL: Cardinals clinch Region 3 title with win over Linesville
COCHRANTON — What a difference three weeks makes.
Earlier this season, Cochranton enjoyed one of its best outings of the year in a 74-27 rout over Linesville. That night everything went right for the Cardinals.

February 11, 2012
COLLEGE WRESTLING: Honeycutt, James pull out win for Scots
EDINBORO — Basketball has buzzer-beaters. Baseball has walk-off home runs. Football has game-winning field goals.
Heavyweight Ernest James displayed wrestling’s version of a final-moment finish on Friday during the Edinboro wrestling team’s 18-15 victory over Michigan State at Edinboro University’s McComb Fieldhouse.

February 11, 2012
GIRLS BASKETBALL: Indians notch win despite shooting, rebounding woes
CONNEAUTVILLE — Many believe strange things happen when there’s a full moon in the sky. Perhaps they happen even a few days later.
Conneaut Valley shot under 24 percent from the field and was out-rebounded 32-20 on Thursday night. But the Indians found a way as they wrapped up at least a share of the Region 3 girls basketball title with a 36-23 win over Cochranton.

February 10, 2012
WRESTLING: Close decisions push Bears past Blue Devils
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS — Non-region wrestling foes Union City and Cambridge Springs seemed to want to savor nearly every second of their respective regular season finales.
Going head-to-head Thursday night, eight of the 12 contested bouts went the distance; seven of them were won by decision; and five of those seven were decided by two points or less.

February 10, 2012
Maplewood could be getting a Little Gridders program
It’s still in the early stages, but Maplewood football could be welcoming a new team into its community come August.

February 8, 2012
Lady Scots roar back vs. Knights
Edinboro had trailed just once at halftime heading into Wednesday night’s Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference women’s basketball showdown with Gannon.

February 8, 2012
Lancers roll through MASH wrestlers
It was the Meadville seniors’ party, but they were the only ones that really got to enjoy it, as the Bulldogs’ two 12th-graders were MASH’s only winners on the mat during a 56-15 loss to a talented General McLane squad on Wednesday at the House of Thrills.

February 8, 2012
More Local Sports Headlines

A clean-energy plan to use solar energy in eastern Pennsylvania has been met with resistance, even by environmental groups. Do you think solar energy has a future as a valuable energy source in Pennsylvania?

Local Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Ison will chose on the field or in his field?

A clean-energy plan to use solar energy in eastern Pennsylvania has been met with resistance, even by environmental groups. Do you think solar energy has a future as a valuable energy source in Pennsylvania?

Site Map

Contact Us