Carl Nassib did not receive a scholarship offer out of high school, but he still held on to his dream.
"When I came to Penn State it was more of proving people wrong," Nassib said.
He earned a scholarship once he got to Penn State, but his then coach Bill O'Brien told him he had no chance of making it to the NFL.
"The feeling was it was one man's opinion and I was going to work my absolute hardest to get to my goal no matter what," Nassib recalled.
He showed the nation what he could do his senior year with 15.5 sacks, earning him Big Ten Defensive Player of the year honors. The Browns took notice and chose the defensive end in the third round of this year's draft.
He was not the first in his family to reach the NFL. His brother Ryan Nassib is a quarterback for the New York Giants.
"Ryan, he rivals me in hard work. He is very quiet, reserved, does his work when nobody is looking and we have that in common," the Browns rookie explained. "He is just a great role model for anybody as far as hard work and determination."
Nassib needed to work hard and be determined when going to college with the goal of proving people wrong. Now he comes to Cleveland, where people believe in him. It does change what he has to prove, but not how he pursues his dream.
"Now I guess it is more of proving people right. That mentality doesn’t really change the way that i approach practice or approach working," Nassib explained. "My dream has always been to be the best and to hang up my helmet the last time and know to myself that i did the best that I could to be the best that I could to be the best that ever did it. So that is my dream.
