Private Eye
10/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football, Athletics
Private Eye
By Allen Lessels
Brian Osimiri, private investigator, is on the case.
The mission: to help solidify the Dartmouth College defense which in turn will help turn the Big Green's football fortunes around. To line up alongside Mike Rabil — they are two of the five Big Green who came back for a fifth year of football — and anchor a tough and veteran defensive line. To study game film and, well, investigate the tendencies of opponents. To, as usual, work hard in practice and mentor younger defenders.
OK, so Brian Osimiri, a 6-2, 260-pound late-bloomer of a defensive tackle, isn't actually a private investigator.
He was. But he had to turn his card in when he left his position as an intern with the New Hampshire Public Defender's office.
Osimiri, who graduates in December as a government major and plans to head to law school soon, worked with the Public Defender's office last spring.
“It was a great experience,” he said in a meeting room at Davis Varsity House. “The first day I had to drive to Concord to get my private investigator's license.”
His second day, he tagged along for the interviewing of a woman in regards to a criminal case. “It was something I'd never seen before,” Osimiri said. “It didn't get too crazy with any big cases, but there was stuff I saw that I had no idea actually happened in New Hampshire. Being here at Dartmouth, we're in sort of a little Hanover bubble and you think jaywalking is as high a crime as there is. You hear some of the stories and see some of the cases and realize what's going on in parts of New Hampshire is just like the rest of the United States, just on a smaller scale.”
It was all a bit of an eye-opener for a guy who came out of Dallas — and the Greenhill School in nearby Addison — to a school in a far off corner of the country that he knew little about until after his senior football season ended. Football itself was an eye-opener to Osimiri.
He didn't play a lot of organized sports growing up and football was not a big thing in his family. When Brian went to Greenhill for ninth grade he wanted to focus on academics. He first started playing football as a sophomore and as a junior played some on a conference champion team.
And then . . . “One of our defensive tackles graduated,” Osimiri said. “Basically, that was my spot to take. I had to decide, 'Am I going to be the weak link on defense, or am I going to try and do something and not be the one holding everyone back?'”
He did something. Something big.
He had formed a bond with defensive coordinator Stacey Johnson and got to work. “He stayed on me,” Osimiri said. “He's a real sarcastic guy. He was always on me. He'd make sure I was lifting and eating well. He wouldn't let me slack off. He sort of saw potential in me.”
A growth spurt didn't hurt. Osimiri went from 190 pounds as a junior to about 240 as senior.
“His gains in strength from one year to a year later were incredible,” Johnson said from Texas. “He was going from benching maybe 200 pounds to over 300. He almost tripled his squat. To see a kid do that is unbelievable.”
Osimiri held no one back as a Greenhill senior and the team was a co-champion in its conference.
“He was a major part of what we did,” Johnson said. “For us to have a kid like that, who could move like he did, and to have his heart and desire in the middle of our defense, that was just huge for us.”
A funny thing happened on the way to becoming a starter. Osimiri, much to his surprise, became a college prospect. A Dartmouth assistant coach had Greenhill tape and was interested in Osimiri and a few of his buddies. Holy Cross, Lehigh and Cornell all got involved.
Osimiri came to Hanover for his recruiting visit in February. “That's probably the reason I came here,” he said. “It was only 35-40 degrees and I figured if that was what it was in February, it can't be that bad.”
Oops. He is, by the way, planning to go to law school somewhere in the South or on the West Coast.
Osimiri did adjust to the weather up north, and certainly adjusted to Ivy League football. A bad ankle sprain that he aggravated before it could get better, kept him out of action his freshman season, but also opened the way for him to come back for a fifth year.
He started every game a year ago and had 25 tackles. He was one of four players who led the team with two interceptions each. That he decided to apply for and then use a medical redshirt and return for this season was good news for head coach Buddy Teevens and defensive coordinator Chris Wilkerson, especially.
“He's a very athletic guy and a leader and works very well in our defense,” Teevens said. “He's a good guy to coach and a good guy to have on the team. He mentors some of the younger guys and he really is a good teacher.”
Wilkerson echoes the head coach.
“He's really improved and he brings a tremendous amount of energy to our defensive front,” Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson raved about more than Osimiri's football.
The subjects on the table were Osimiri and linebacker Joe Gibalski: “The biggest thing is, they're both great kids,” Wilkerson said. “They'll both be very successful once they leave Dartmouth. They're both fine students and great, great people.”
Johnson has known that about the guy from Greenhill for years.
“I had lunch with him the week before he went back to Dartmouth at the end of the summer,” Johnson said. “You couldn't ask a kid to work any harder than he worked. He and I had this great kind of relationship. I'd get on him a little and he'd give it back and it would go back and forth. He's one of those kids who would do anything to help the school and to become better.”
One of those kids whose name still gets brought up as a shining example.
“He's the kind of kid you tell stories about to the kids now,” Johnson said. “'Hey look, at a certain age you may not be what you're going to be as a senior. If you want to put in the hard work, the sky's the limit.' I don't think Brian ever imagined he'd be playing football on Saturdays for a school like Dartmouth. He's one of the kids you never forget. He'll always have that special place in your heart.”
Allen Lessels is a sportswriter for the Manchester Union Leader/New Hampshire Sunday News.
By Allen Lessels
Brian Osimiri, private investigator, is on the case.
The mission: to help solidify the Dartmouth College defense which in turn will help turn the Big Green's football fortunes around. To line up alongside Mike Rabil — they are two of the five Big Green who came back for a fifth year of football — and anchor a tough and veteran defensive line. To study game film and, well, investigate the tendencies of opponents. To, as usual, work hard in practice and mentor younger defenders.
OK, so Brian Osimiri, a 6-2, 260-pound late-bloomer of a defensive tackle, isn't actually a private investigator.
He was. But he had to turn his card in when he left his position as an intern with the New Hampshire Public Defender's office.
Osimiri, who graduates in December as a government major and plans to head to law school soon, worked with the Public Defender's office last spring.
“It was a great experience,” he said in a meeting room at Davis Varsity House. “The first day I had to drive to Concord to get my private investigator's license.”
His second day, he tagged along for the interviewing of a woman in regards to a criminal case. “It was something I'd never seen before,” Osimiri said. “It didn't get too crazy with any big cases, but there was stuff I saw that I had no idea actually happened in New Hampshire. Being here at Dartmouth, we're in sort of a little Hanover bubble and you think jaywalking is as high a crime as there is. You hear some of the stories and see some of the cases and realize what's going on in parts of New Hampshire is just like the rest of the United States, just on a smaller scale.”
It was all a bit of an eye-opener for a guy who came out of Dallas — and the Greenhill School in nearby Addison — to a school in a far off corner of the country that he knew little about until after his senior football season ended. Football itself was an eye-opener to Osimiri.
He didn't play a lot of organized sports growing up and football was not a big thing in his family. When Brian went to Greenhill for ninth grade he wanted to focus on academics. He first started playing football as a sophomore and as a junior played some on a conference champion team.
And then . . . “One of our defensive tackles graduated,” Osimiri said. “Basically, that was my spot to take. I had to decide, 'Am I going to be the weak link on defense, or am I going to try and do something and not be the one holding everyone back?'”
He did something. Something big.
He had formed a bond with defensive coordinator Stacey Johnson and got to work. “He stayed on me,” Osimiri said. “He's a real sarcastic guy. He was always on me. He'd make sure I was lifting and eating well. He wouldn't let me slack off. He sort of saw potential in me.”
A growth spurt didn't hurt. Osimiri went from 190 pounds as a junior to about 240 as senior.
“His gains in strength from one year to a year later were incredible,” Johnson said from Texas. “He was going from benching maybe 200 pounds to over 300. He almost tripled his squat. To see a kid do that is unbelievable.”
Osimiri held no one back as a Greenhill senior and the team was a co-champion in its conference.
“He was a major part of what we did,” Johnson said. “For us to have a kid like that, who could move like he did, and to have his heart and desire in the middle of our defense, that was just huge for us.”
A funny thing happened on the way to becoming a starter. Osimiri, much to his surprise, became a college prospect. A Dartmouth assistant coach had Greenhill tape and was interested in Osimiri and a few of his buddies. Holy Cross, Lehigh and Cornell all got involved.
Osimiri came to Hanover for his recruiting visit in February. “That's probably the reason I came here,” he said. “It was only 35-40 degrees and I figured if that was what it was in February, it can't be that bad.”
Oops. He is, by the way, planning to go to law school somewhere in the South or on the West Coast.
Osimiri did adjust to the weather up north, and certainly adjusted to Ivy League football. A bad ankle sprain that he aggravated before it could get better, kept him out of action his freshman season, but also opened the way for him to come back for a fifth year.
He started every game a year ago and had 25 tackles. He was one of four players who led the team with two interceptions each. That he decided to apply for and then use a medical redshirt and return for this season was good news for head coach Buddy Teevens and defensive coordinator Chris Wilkerson, especially.
“He's a very athletic guy and a leader and works very well in our defense,” Teevens said. “He's a good guy to coach and a good guy to have on the team. He mentors some of the younger guys and he really is a good teacher.”
Wilkerson echoes the head coach.
“He's really improved and he brings a tremendous amount of energy to our defensive front,” Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson raved about more than Osimiri's football.
The subjects on the table were Osimiri and linebacker Joe Gibalski: “The biggest thing is, they're both great kids,” Wilkerson said. “They'll both be very successful once they leave Dartmouth. They're both fine students and great, great people.”
Johnson has known that about the guy from Greenhill for years.
“I had lunch with him the week before he went back to Dartmouth at the end of the summer,” Johnson said. “You couldn't ask a kid to work any harder than he worked. He and I had this great kind of relationship. I'd get on him a little and he'd give it back and it would go back and forth. He's one of those kids who would do anything to help the school and to become better.” One of those kids whose name still gets brought up as a shining example.
“He's the kind of kid you tell stories about to the kids now,” Johnson said. “'Hey look, at a certain age you may not be what you're going to be as a senior. If you want to put in the hard work, the sky's the limit.' I don't think Brian ever imagined he'd be playing football on Saturdays for a school like Dartmouth. He's one of the kids you never forget. He'll always have that special place in your heart.”
Allen Lessels is a sportswriter for the Manchester Union Leader/New Hampshire Sunday News.
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