Hoya Staff Writer Friday, September 8, 2006

For the fourth-straight season, opposing teams will have no problem identifying Georgetown’s biggest playmaker. They have gotten used to looking for the man wearing No. 35. This fall, senior defensive end Alex Buzbee has the honor of wearing the revered number of the Joe Eacobacci Memorial Jersey. It’s an honor that Buzbee does not take lightly. “When you’re wearing that jersey, you’re not just playing for yourself. You’re representing a man who was taken from us much too soon,” Buzbee says. The man whom Georgetown’s football team acknowledges with the jersey is former team captain Joseph Eacobacci (COL ’96), a victim of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Eacobacci, who captained the 1995 squad, was working for an investment firm on the 105th floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower. Before each season, Georgetown’s coaching staff selects to wear No. 35 a player who both embodies Eacobacci’s competitive spirit and passion for leadership, as well as replicates his impressive play on the field. “I read about the [honorary jersey] when I first got to campus,” Buzbee says. “I thought that it was really unique and if I worked hard both as a person and player, I might be able to wear the jersey.” After compiling 22 career sacks through his junior season, twice earning all-Patriot League honors, and being named a captain this year, Buzbee presented a persuasive case to wear the jersey, and the coaches rewarded him at the Hoyas’ annual banquet last January. Assistant Head Coach Rob Sgarlata (CAS ’94), now in his 12th season as a coach with Georgetown, also has four years of experience as a Hoyas running back. Sgarlata, who both played with and coached Eacobacci, and was also a teammate of Eacobacci’s brother Tom (MSB ’93), thinks Buzbee is aware of the history and responsibility attached to jersey. “I think he was honored when he did get it because he knows the [Eacobacci] family and he knows the story,” Eacobacci says. “I think it was a pretty big deal for him.” Eacobacci himself was a star player in the Georgetown football program. Over his four-year career, Eacobacci amassed 183 career tackles, playing both the strong safety and outside linebacker positions. He won the Jeremiah Minihan Coaches’ award during his senior season for his “outstanding contribution to the team.” Eacobacci helped guide the team to a 6-3 record that year. Buzbee, who won the George A. Murtagh Award as the team’s most outstanding lineman last year, succeeded fellow defensive end Michael Ononibaku (MSB ’06) in wearing the jersey. Ononibaku, the stalwart lineman, recognizes that he has quite the legacy to follow and that putting on the number may have its drawbacks on the field. “If you wear No. 35, you have a target on your back,” Ononibaku says. Ononibaku wore the jersey during the last two seasons en route to first team all-Patriot League honors and a place on American Football Coaches’ Association’s Division I-AA all-America team last year. He was also invited to try out at the Washington Redskins’ rookie camp earlier this year. Matt Fronczke (COL ’04), captain of the 2002 and 2003 teams, was the first to wear the jersey during his senior season. Fronczke finished his career at the No. 3 spot on Georgetown’s career tackles list with 243. According to Ononibaku, Buzbee was the obvious choice. “`Buzz has always been one of those outstanding players both on and off the field,” he says. “He’s deserving of everything that jersey represents.” Buzbee is now chasing Ononibaku on Georgetown’s career sack list. Ononibaku finished his career last fall with 29 career sacks, second only to Janne Kouri (MSB ’97), who holds the team record with 31.5. Kouri, however, played when Georgetown was a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, a conference that is traditionally less competitive than the Patriot League. Buzbee entered this season with 22 sacks, while Onobibaku entered his senior year with 20.5. Buzbee credits his former complement at defensive end, Ononibaku, with helping his development as a pass rusher. “Michael, especially, really took me under his wing,” Buzbee says. “He was a guy whom I really looked up to as somebody with a tremendous work ethic.” In the season opener last Saturday – his first contest without Ononibaku on the other side of the defensive line – Buzbee registered five solo tackles and a half-sack. He was one of the bright spots in the Hoyas’ 26-13 loss to Holy Cross at the ulti-Sport Facility. “It’s a little different this year, being a senior,” Buzbee says. “My main goal is just to win some games. Each year, up until this point, I’ve been able to say, `There’s still next year.’ Now I can’t say that anymore. I have to play each play like it’s my last, because there are only 10 games left and they’re going to go by quickly.” As for when his Georgetown career is indeed over, Buzbee is leaving his options open. “Obviously, I’d like to play football for as long as I can,” he says. “I’ll also have a Georgetown degree so I wouldn’t mind putting that to use in the Washington area.” Buzbee, a government major, split time this summer between the weight room and Capitol Hill, serving as an intern for Rep. Peter King (R-NY). “It was a great experience to be in his office, and see politics behind the scenes,” Buzbee says. “He represents New York and he’s the chairman of the House Committee for Homeland Security, so Sept. 11, 2001 and the terrorist attacks definitely have special meaning to him and his office.” The same could be said of Buzbee. His position in life may be very different from King’s, but he wears the “target on his back” as proudly as a purple heart.