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Delaware’s Ben Patrick to play in Senior Bowl
12:14 p.m., Jan. 23, 2007--Tight end Ben Patrick, a consensus All-America for the University of Delaware football team, has been selected to play in the prestigious Under Armour Senior Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 27, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. The game, billed as football's premier pre-draft event, is sold out for the 13th consecutive year and will be televised live on the NFL Network beginning at 3 p.m. The game involves many of the top 100 college football seniors in the nation and is attended by more than 700 National Football League general managers, head coaches, assistant coaches, scouts, and other front office personnel. Patrick, who caught two passes in last week's Dell East-West Shrine Game in Houston, was a late addition to the game and is expected to join practice sessions Tuesday for the North squad. He is the only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision player on either roster. Among those expected to play in the game are Heisman Trophy winner quarterback Troy Smith from Ohio State University, Chris Leak, quarterback for the national champion University of Florida, and standout Penn State University linebacker and two-time Bednarik Award winner Paul Posluszny. San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Nolan and his staff will coach the South squad, while Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden and his staff will coach the North. Patrick, a 6-foot 5-inch, 270-pound senior, is just the third tight end in UD history to earn All-America honors and the first to earn first team honors. Former Fightin' Blue Hens Jaime Young (1979) and Jeff Modesitt (1986) earned Associated Press honorable mention. A transfer from Duke University and a strong pro prospect, Patrick caught 64 passes for 639 yards and six touchdowns in his only season with the Hens, setting a UD single season record for receptions by a tight end and ranking third in the conference in receptions at 5.82 per game. His 5.82 receptions per game and 58.1 yards per game were also tops among all Football Championship Subdivision tight ends during the regular season. He caught at least five passes in each of the final nine games of the season and had nine catches for 109 yards and one touchdown against the University of New Hampshire, then ranked No. 1 in the nation, on Sept. 30. In November, Patrick earned first team All-Atlantic 10 Conference honors, becoming the first UD tight end to be named to the all-conference team. |
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