DeLamielleure fighting the odds

05.02.2008

When fans scan down the list of players in town this weekend for a tryout with the Browns at rookie minicamp, one surname will almost certainly pop off the page.

Linebacker Todd DeLamielleure, 29, is the son of Joe DeLamielleure, the Hall of Fame guard who played for the Browns from 1980-84.

Todd had a standout three-year career at Duke. He was a team captain, and then finished his career at Hofstra for one year in 2001 after earning his degree in history.

He played in the 2001 Blue-Gray Classic and, with 10 tackles, was named the Blue team's defensive MVP.

From there, he signed a free agent deal with the Indianapolis Colts but injured his shoulder before the season began. He was sent to NFL Europe to play for the Rhein Fire the following spring but hadn't fully recovered by that time. He reinjured his shoulder, ending his time in Europe.

After getting the injury surgically repaired, he had tryouts with the Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills before finally deciding it was time to end his NFL dream. Or so he thought.

Todd's grandfather had been a fire chief outside of Detroit, so life as a fireman was in his bloodlines.

"Todd was looking for a job and we walked by a firehouse and I said, 'Man wouldn't it be cool if Todd became a fireman,'" Joe said. "I didn't say a word to him about it because I didn't want to influence him one way or another and it's a dangerous job, but a week later he called me up and said he was thinking about being a firefighter."

About three years later, Todd became a firefighter in Charleston, S.C.

"The pay is low but the rewards are high when you can see what you do for people," Joe said.

Meanwhile, the new job helped Todd fill a void he felt when he left football.

"Most people who play team sports, they find it very difficult when they leave to find that niche again when you're with a group of guys," Joe said.

But nothing he ever experienced on the football field could prepare Todd for what would happen one spring night.

On the evening of June 18, 2007, Todd received a call from a fellow fireman. There had been a deadly fire at a sofa store nearby. Todd jumped in his car to help but the highways had been closed down. So instead, he went to the fire station where he and other firefighters gathered to watch television.

The fire made national news. In total, nine firefighters -- four of which worked with Todd -- were killed. A close family friend and football coach, Louis Mulkey, was the first of the nine victims. Todd attended six funerals over the next four days and even drove one of his coworker's caskets to the funeral site in his fire truck.

It's an event Todd and his father said they haven't gotten over to this day.

"You don't recover from it," Todd said. "It made me realize, you leave the house everyday and you tell your wife, 'See you tomorrow.' That's not guaranteed in the job we do. As cliché as it is, it made me appreciate everyday.

"It really drove home the sacrifice firemen make.

"After that I realized nothing is guaranteed and if there's something you feel passionate about and you want to try, you should do everything in your power to make it happen."

His opportunity came just weeks later when Todd was invited to try out for the All-American Football League, a brand new outdoor football league reserved for players with college degrees.

Tryouts went welland was selected by a franchise in Arkansas. But just days before training camp was scheduled to begin, the season was canceled due to financial problems.

"It was brutal not only for him, but for everybody," Joe said. "They had coaches, stadium leases."

"I said, 'Shoot I'm going to do everything I can to try and get another opportunity as far-fetched as it might be,'" Todd said. "I sent out letters and DVDs and luckily the Browns gave me a call."

As one of more than 50 tryout players headed to camp this weekend, for the athlete to make the Browns' roster would be to defy truly unlikely odds.

"We know it's a long shot," Todd said.

But the DeLamielleures are up for the challenge.

"This could be a like a Rudy story," Joe said, referring to the 1993 film based on the real-life story of Notre Dame football player Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger. "They would not be embarrassed having this guy on the Browns. He's a tough, tough kid."

Athletically, Joe insists his son is second-to-none. He spends much of his free time working out and training, still doing football drills.

Now, Todd's shoulder is better than ever and that in addition to running a 4.6-second 40-yard dash. He can bench press 225 pounds 37 times -- a number that would rank among the best prospects at the annual NFL Combine.

"All the things they look for are there," Joe said. "Now the question is can he play? I think he can. We'll see what happens."