Lineman progressing in switch to linebacker
FOXBORO, Mass. --Dan Klecko entered the NFL hoping tofollow his father as a top defensive lineman.
Instead, he's emulating Patriots teammateTedy Bruschi, who madea successful transition from being a college lineman to an NFLlinebacker.
Klecko is doing well at inside linebacker and played moreaggressively in New England's second exhibition game last Saturdaynight than in its first. He's learning to read defenses from hisnew position and adjusting to covering receivers in his second proseason.
"There's stuff I'm still seeing that I've never seen beforefrom back there," Klecko said Wednesday. "I've never seen that inhigh school, college. For the first time, I'm seeing it in the NFLand that's kind of tough."
Klecko is 5 feet, 11 inches and weighs 275 pounds and coach BillBelichick prefers bigger defensive linemen. Of the 10 on theroster, none is shorter than 6-2 or lighter than 285.
The linebacking corps, with all four starters aged 29 or older,can use some youth.
One veteran, the 31-year-old Bruschi, tied the NCAA Division I-Acareer sack record with 52 as a defensive end at Arizona. He playedlinebacker as a rookie in 1996 and was second on the Patriots intackles last season.
"I can really relate. It's weird because I can see him makingthe same mistakes I made when I was first starting," Bruschi said."I know exactly how he feels."
When he was drafted in 2003 in the fourth round out of Temple,Klecko was known as the son of formerNew York Jets defensivelineman Joe Klecko as well as for his outstanding college play.
"He tries to help me with little things he knows because he wasa real student of the game," Klecko said of his father. "He'sbasically just always on my side."
Klecko also is winning over Belichick.
"He's doing pretty well, a lot better than a lot of guys thathave played (inside linebacker) a lot longer," Belichick said."He's still got a long ways to go. I'm not talking about DickButkus here right now but I think he's done well."
Few linebackers were as good as Butkus was with Chicago, butKlecko also has played well on special teams and blocked from thefullback position.
"He's not one-dimensional," said tight endChristian Fauria,who sits next to Klecko in the locker room. "I think when you'rein college you become one-dimensional because they say, `OK, you'regoing to play this position.'
"When you get to the pros it gets a little more personalizedand they start to see maybe things that you can do that you neverdid in college," he said, "and they start to give you a chance todo that."
Last season, Klecko played in 13 games, starting one of them atnose tackle. He also was the fullback on five of New England's ninetouchdown runs.
But it's much easier to be the lead blocker for a running backthan to learn the intricacies of playing linebacker so well that hecan react to a play without thinking.
"I'm hitting the hole faster, but there's still some things Isee and I kind of need to take a second to think about it," Kleckosaid. "I also give myself a little leeway because I've only playedtwo real games at it and, hopefully, I'll get a little more time tolearn it than that."
He tries to pick up tips wherever he can.
"He's really eager. He comes and asks me a lot of questions,sometimes too many," Bruschi said with a laugh. "Sometimes I justwish he'd leave me alone."
But Bruschi went through the same learning process himself.
"I can relate to it," he said. "I know how difficult it is,but give him a year or two under his belt and he can be a qualityplayer."
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press
This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire.Wire index
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