Buzzard Soars As A Veteran Eagle Former ‘Screw-Off’ Now A Standout Who Could Have Pro Future

The last thing an aspiring young college football player normally expects to confront during the spring semester of his freshman year is a last chance.

Yet that’s what Jim Buzzard was facing as an undersized, undisciplined defensive lineman at Eastern Washington back in the spring of 1994.

“He came in (in the fall of ‘93) and tried to play defense,” recalled Eagles coach Mike Kramer, who was an assistant under Dick Zornes at the time. “He was light, he wasn’t real focused on what he needed to do, he just seemed like such a screw-off that there was no way he was going to be able to play.

“At the end of the fall of his freshman year, I think everybody on our staff - except one guy - had doubts whether he could play. But fortunately, for him, that one guy was Paul Wulff.”

Wulff, less than five years removed from a splendid career as an offensive lineman at Washington State, had just signed on as an Eagles assistant following a brief stint in the World Football League.

What Wulff saw in Buzzard, strangely enough, was an abundance of untapped talent in a young man he deemed fully capable of beefing up, bearing down and becoming the kind of offensive lineman that ends up playing on Sundays.

Wulff convinced Zornes to let him move the 6-foot-3, 215-pound freshman to the offensive side of the football where he could personally re-direct his efforts.

Today, as a fourth-year junior, Buzzard has increased his weight by 60 pounds and his bench press by 120. He remains one of the team’s quickest interior linemen with a 40-yard dash time of 4.9 seconds.

And he is Kramer’s pick to be the Eagles’ next National Football League draftee.

“In the spring of ‘94, we moved him to offense really as a last chance,” Kramer explained. “None of the other coaches really wanted him or spoke up for him, but that spring under Paul Wulff’s tutelage, he just blossomed.

“Unquestionably, Jim has since developed the skills to be an NFL-caliber offensive lineman. As it turned out, he was so tough-minded and tough-willed he was able to combine some of his assets and overcome a rocky start here.”

Buzzard, who prepped at Centralia High School, started last season as a backup but got a chance to prove himself after a couple of starters went down with injuries.

He ended up emerging as one of the few positives in a dismal 3-8 season that included a 1-7 finish in the Big Sky Conference.

With Buzzard leading the sweep and helping level defenders, tailback Joe Sewell rushed for 1,025 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“You watch our highlight film from last year and there he is, pulling around to the left side, leading Sewell on our weakside sweep and knocking people down,” Kramer said. “He just got better and better as the year went on.”

Buzzard admits the transition from high school to college did not unfold as smoothly as he had hoped.

“Actually, it was totally different than I thought it was going to be,” he said. “I guess every freshman that comes in out of high school kind of has a big head, or whatever, and thinks he’s going to be real stud.

“But you find out real quick that you’re not once you get with the big boys.”

Wullf, realizing the difficulty Buzzard was having with the change, did what he could to ease the shock.

“He basically took me by the hand and pulled my thumb out of my mouth,” Buzzard said.

It helped, too, that Buzzard found a role model in teammate Tom Ackerman, who last April became the fourth Eagles offensive lineman since 1987 to graduate into the NFL.

“He really helped me, too,” Buzzard said. “After practice, he’d show me steps and go over plays with me and stuff. He was a leader who wasn’t a big talker on the field.”

And now it’s Buzzard’s turn to lead.

He is one of four starters returning to the offensive trenches and he expects EWU’s fortunes to turn rather abruptly.

“Our O-line should definitely be one of the better ones in the league,” Buzzard said. “Last year we were considered one of the best and we only lost one player (Ackerman).

“We’re going to get better this year and we’re only going to lose one senior next year, so we’re going to dominate the next two years, there’s no question about that.”

Buzzard added that he felt the Eagles could finish in the top two or three teams in the Big Sky and make the Division I-AA playoffs.

Kramer wasn’t that bold with his predictions about his team, which opens the season Sept. 7 at Weber State. But he had no problem predicting greatness for Buzzard.

“He has learned how to play and practice at a ferocious - just ferocious - level,” Kramer said. “That may have something to do with having been a defensive player, but it’s very rare that you find an offensive lineman that has the kind of wicked mind Buzzard has.”

Eagles to scrimmage tonight

Getting his team accustomed to playing under the lights will be one of the goals Kramer hopes to accomplish when he puts his Eastern Washington Eagles through a controlled scrimmage at Woodward Stadium tonight at 7.

It will be EWU’s final full-scale scrimmage before taking on Weber State Sept. 7 in Ogden, Utah. That will be the first of four-straight night games for the Eagles.

There is no charge to attend the scrimmage, which will help close the second week of two-a-day practices.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 color)