Football

As a kid Trai Essex experienced football for the first time by making plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Granted, the games were played on his Nintendo with Tecmo Super Bowl and the plays were made by video game incarnations of Barry Foster and Kevin Greene, but Essex was leading his favorite team.

On Saturday, Essex found that he would once again aid the black and gold, only now it will be on the field instead of a gaming console.

Pittsburgh selected Essex as the 93rd overall pick in the third round of the NFL Draft. While the Steelers have lost players on their offensive line, the team is coming off a season that took them to the AFC Championship game. The openings on the line give Essex a chance to start for a Super Bowl contender as a rookie.

The situation is ideal for a player who arrived at Northwestern as a self-described “skinny tight end” before converting to tackle. Now at 324 pounds, Essex knows the offensive line is where he belongs.

“I’m just trying to fathom the fact that I’m going to be playing for them, much less the fact that I might be in the Super Bowl next year,” Essex said. “I couldn’t even think that far ahead right now … To have a chance to play for them, and to compete for a starting job, it’s a dream come true.”

As if it couldn’t get any better, Essex will have company. The Steelers also scooped up former NU Running back Noah Herron in the seventh round.

“Going from college to the NFL is a tough transition,” Essex said. “To have someone with you that you’ve known for three or four years, that you’ve blocked for, that you’ve grown to know and love, what more could I ask for?

“I believe that we both have a great future in Pittsburgh.”

Herron isn’t the only familiar face that Essex might see this year. The Steelers are scheduled for a Monday night game against the Chargers in October. Not only will Essex make his debut on the league’s premiere national showcase, but he could quite possibly line up opposite former teammate Luis Castillo.

Castillo was selected by the Chargers in the first round.

“I’m sure we might bump heads a few times,” Essex said. “I’m just going to have to be on my A-game in order to have success against him … I can’t wait to play him at the next level.”

After months of preparing physically for the NFL by training with Pro-Bowlers like Walter Jones of the Seattle Seahawks, Essex must now endure the mental onslaught of an NFL playbook.

He will learn from two of the best, fellow linemen and Pro-Bowlers Alan Faneca and Jeff Hartings.

Essex said he’ll need to impress head coach Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh’s coach since 1992 and the longest tenured coach in the NFL. He has led the Steelers to eight division titles, five AFC Championship games and an appearance in Super Bowl XXX.

Essex hopes to make an impact right away.

“Do everything that they tell me to do, exactly how they tell me to do it,” Essex said. “The biggest thing is to learn the playbook as fast as possible, and form some kind of bond and connection with my fellow offensive linemen in Pittsburgh.”

While Essex speaks like a consummate professional, he still shows glimpses of a starry-eyed fan when he thinks of blocking for Jerome Bettis.

“Opening the holes for a future Hall of Famer?” Essex said. “That’s something I can tell my grandkids.”

Essex is slightly wary of some of his teammates, as he expects quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to talk about Miami of Ohio’s 44-14 win against the Wildcats in 2003. But he is still going to keep himself focused while drawing on what has brought him to the NFL.

Throughout his life Essex said his family has supported him, pushing him to succeed throughout his youth, and as he noted, always making sure his homework was done. Essex drove home to Fort Wayne, Ind., on Friday to share his draft day experience with them.

“I wouldn’t be in this situation without them,” said Essex. “They definitely prepared me first and foremost for my academics, and they put me in the best position athletically as well, getting me to play sports at a young age, keeping me active, academically and athletically.

“Without them I wouldn’t have the opportunity to go to Northwestern in the first place.”

Of course from where he stands now, one of the best things his family may have done for him was buying Tecmo Super Bowl all those years ago so he could spend his days ruling Three Rivers Stadium.

Next year Essex may try to do the same at Heinz Field on Madden 2006. Only this time he won’t just be playing the video game. He’ll be in it.

Reach David Kalan at [email protected]