Catapano

Senior defensive end Mike Catapano, a three-time All-Ivy honoree and last season's Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, became the first Princeton player to be selected in the NFL draft since 2001 on Saturday, when the Kansas City Chiefs selected him with the first pick of the seventh round. At 207th overall, he was drafted higher than any Tiger since Jon Schultheis ’83, who was drafted 182nd overall by the Philadelphia Eagles.

The pick came near the end of the three-day draft process. Catapano waited in his home in Bayville, N.Y., with friends and family as his agent talked with teams and the draft dragged on. During that time, he said, he focused on remaining calm and controlling what he could.

“You kind of get used to the waiting and, honestly, the nervousness, throughout the whole process,” he said.

At one point, what could have been a life-changing phone call turned out to be a friend asking for directions.

“We were waiting on this — I think it was a Green Bay pick or something like that — my phone rang, and I wanted to kill my friend,” Catapano said.

Later on, however, it was the general manager of the Chiefs, John Dorsey, dialing Catapano’s number.

“Mr. Dorsey, when he called me, was like ‘I’ve just got one question: Do you want to board the big red train?’ ” Catapano said. “And I said, ‘Hell yeah.’ ”

Catapano was considered a long shot to be drafted at first, but a solid East-West Shrine Game and a subsequent Pro Day at Princeton earned him the interest of several NFL teams, including the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants. Kansas City was not one of those teams.

After three seasons of outstanding individual effort but subpar performances by Princeton teams, Catapano, a two-year co-captain, helped lead the Tigers' resurgence last season. He led the team and the Ivy League with 12 sacks, and his 1.2 sacks per game mark was second-best in the FCS.

Like Princeton at the start of Catapano’s collegiate career, Kansas City finished last season at the bottom of the league. The Chiefs went 2-14 last season, earning the number-one pick of this year’s draft with the worst record in the NFL. They are now in rebuilding mode, guided by new head coach Andy Reid, who comes to Kansas City after holding the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coaching job since 1999.

Catapano says he sees a connection between his old Princeton team and his new NFL team.

“I just see a clean slate, a chance for me to make my impression on the league. We had to really work hard to change the attitude and belief and really the whole mindset at Princeton so we could start winning some games,” he said. “I can’t wait to bring the lessons that I learned to Kansas City.”

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The star defensive end has said he has no problem with moving to linebacker in the NFL, as Reid is likely to want him to do. Catapano says he is versatile and that his new role as a “rush-type linebacker” will not be all that different from what he did in college.

“That’s such a fun position. What I do well is I pass-rush,” he said.

Catapano was the third Ivy Leaguer to be drafted this weekend, as Cornell's J.C. Tretter and Harvard's Kyle Juszczyk both went in the fourth round to the Green Bay Packers and the Baltimore Ravens, respectively.

Catapano will report to camp in Kansas City on May 9 but will be in Princeton to enjoy his graduation. He is not sure, however, if he will be able to stick around for Reunions.

“I have a job now that I have to honor,” he said.