Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Ex-Owls volunteer at Boys and Girls Club
LAUDERHILL — On the walk to the fields behind the Lauderhill Boys and Girls Club on Friday afternoon, former Florida Atlantic safety Sharrod Neasman towered over a cluster of local kids. He stuck out from the herd just as former FAU teammate Brandin Bryant did behind him.
Then a question for Neasman emerged from the pack: “How did you guys lose the Super Bowl?”
Neasman, now a safety for the Atlanta Falcons, laughed off the inquiry, months after he became the first FAU player to ever play in a Super Bowl. He recorded one tackle on kickoff coverage during Atlanta’s 34-28 overtime loss to New England.
The Falcons blew a 25-point second half lead, which soured an otherwise “amazing experience” for Neasman.
“I had never played in a bowl game in my life, so it was fun to play in the Super Bowl,” Neasman said. “A few days before the game, we visited the field and it was crazy. I’m like ‘Man, I’m really about to play in the Super Bowl,’ the most watched event on television in the history of television, maybe besides the Olympics. It was crazy.”
Neasman and Bryant, now a defensive lineman for the New York Jets, spent a few hours playing football, signing autographs and speaking to the kids at the Boys and Girls Club.
The pair spent four years together in Boca Raton under former coaches Carl Pelini and Charlie Partridge, and never finished a season better than 6-6. Neither was drafted into the NFL, but both have found professional homes and enter their second seasons this year. Neasman invited Bryant to the event.
“I like coming out, supporting these kids, showing them the dreams you want, you can attain it,” Neasman said. “I just wanted to come out and show them that we’re not superheroes. We were kids just like them. If they keep at what they’re doing, they can achieve whatever they want to do in life.”
Added Bryant: “I remember when I was younger, Ahman Green and Eric Crouch would come to my Boys and Girls Club and help us out. That always stuck with me, no matter how young I was. I think they’ll definitely get something out of it, and the younger kids, it’ll stick with them as well.”
Neasman’s route to the NFL was particularly winding. He wasn’t offered a scholarship out of high school, so he attended FAU as a student and then walked-on to the football team. Neasman later earned a starting spot and a scholarship with the Owls. He finished his FAU career with 150 tackles and five interceptions.
“I got into school without a scholarship,” Neasman said. “That can inspire in itself. I didn’t get a scholarship to play football, so walking on. That can kind of deter dreams once they don’t get a D-1 scholarship, they’re like ‘Aw, you know what, maybe it’s not for me. I’m not good enough.’ ”
Bryant still works out every day at FAU and approved of the December hire of new coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin takes over a program that went 3-9 in each of the past three seasons.
“All the players I talk to like him,” Bryant said. “He definitely has what it takes to win. His father coming along with him, that won’t hurt either. I think FAU is in a good position.”
Neasman said Kiffin has opened the facilities to former Owls and seems like “a good person and a good dude.”
“They’re saying that he’s really changing the program around,” Neasman said. “What he’s making them put into it is keeping them from going out and letting the season pass them by. What they’re putting into it, all the work they’re putting into it right now will fuel them throughout the season.”
“I like coming out, supporting these kids, showing them the dreams you want, you can attain it.” Sharrod Neasman, former Florida Atlantic safety