Big Apple, Meet Big Bulaga

April 16, 2010

Video interview with B. Bulaga

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Watching the NFL Draft has become a rite of spring for former University of Iowa offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga. This year he will have a front-row seat.

Bulaga, who at the age of 21 and after three successful seasons bulldozing openings for running backs like Albert Young and Shonn Greene, decided to forego his final season of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2010 NFL Draft that will be held April 22-24 in New York City.

Bulaga is one of a handful of top draft prospects invited to Radio City Music Hall to experience the selections first-hand. At 6-foot-6, 315 pounds, he will also be one of the largest and most sought-after in attendance.

“I’m actually very relaxed. I’m very calm about the situation,” Bulaga said. “The combine and pro day and the workouts…I’ve done everything I could to go as high as I possibly can. Right now it’s out of my hands. I can’t do much about where I go from here on out.”

Will he be chosen by the Chiefs with the fifth pick? The Bills at No. 9? San Francisco with selection 17?

“I’m going to be happy with whatever team selects me because they’re going to want me,” Bulaga said. “It’s a deal where it’s out of my hands. I’m going to relax, enjoy the moment and take it all in.”

A native of Crystal Lake, Ill., Bulaga grew up rooting for the Chicago Bears. Unless something drastic happens, chances are slim that the all-stater from Marian Central Catholic will suit up for the local team — the Bears aren’t on the board until the third round.

“Would it be cool to join the Bears? Absolutely,” Bulaga said. “That’s a hometown kind of deal and it would be really cool to stay home, but I know better than to think things like that happen.”

The invitation to attend the draft arrived two weeks ago, but Bulaga said his agent, Tom Condon (also the agent for former Hawkeye Bob Sanders), waited to accept until draft day neared. On Tuesday, April 20, Bulaga will head to New York for the first time ever. The following day, the invited future pros will be guests on a morning radio show, play flag football at a youth program, visit St. Jude Children’s Hospital, ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange and participate in a photo shoot on top of Radio City Music Hall. Bulaga’s parents, Joe and Kathi, will also travel to New York.

The NFL Draft will be televised in primetime, with the first round scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (Iowa time) on Thursday, April 22. Bulaga intends to look sharp.

“I have a couple suits already lined up, it’s just a matter of having my mom there to select the one I want to wear,” Bulaga said. “You know, women have good taste, so I have to have my mom help pick that one out.”

A communications studies major, Bulaga intends to return to the UI and finish his degree. He has taken summer courses since he arrived in Iowa City, so according to his estimation, he has a year and a few hours remaining before receiving a diploma.

“There’s a time table for everything and obviously my rookie year I’m not going to take any classes,” Bulaga said. “I kind of have to get settled in to whatever I’m doing and get used to the whole transition. I plan on finishing up (my degree) fairly soon.”

A consensus first-team all-Big Ten performer, Bulaga was named the league’s offensive lineman of the year to go with several All-American awards. He always wanted to play professional football, but even Bulaga was surprised at how quickly his future arrived.

“I thought I would be here for five years,” Bulaga said. “Coming in my freshman year I thought I would get redshirted and go on from there. Things just happened. I started as a freshman and things progressed to the point I’m at right now. I’m very fortunate and thankful about it.”

Chad Greenway is the most recent Hawkeye to be selected in the first round when he went to Minnesota with the 17th choice in 2006. The last UI offensive lineman to be chosen in the first round was Robert Gallery with the second pick in 2004 by Oakland.

“The one person that would be valuable to talk to is Robert, because he was there, but he was gone at No. 2, so he wasn’t sitting around too long,” Bulaga said.

During `The Bulaga Years,’ the Hawkeyes won 26 times and earned championships in the Outback and FedEx Orange bowls. Ironically, the first and last games for Bulaga as a Hawkeye came inside NFL stadiums. On Sept. 1, 2007, Iowa defeated Northern Illinois, 16-3, in Soldier Field (Chicago); on Jan. 5, 2010, the Hawkeyes downed Georgia Tech, 24-14, in Land Shark Stadium (Miami).

“When you can play well under the system that coach (Kirk) Ferentz has set up and you can succeed under him and you’re doing well in the weight room under coach (Chris) Doyle and coach (Reese) Morgan doesn’t have to ride you all the time about the little stuff, that’s kind of when you know that you can play at the next level,” Bulaga said.

A career highlight for Bulaga was the entire 2009 season that culminated with victory in the FedEx Orange Bowl, after the Hawkeyes fought, battled and eventually conquered the ups and downs of the year.

“Going 11-2 with these guys and really working through all the challenges made for a real memorable season,” Bulaga said. “Not because of the BCS win or anything, but just from how the team developed. We could have laid down and had an OK season…a seven or eight-win season, but we stretched it out to that 10-win season and got ourselves into a great bowl game and won that bowl game.”

Bulaga is at peace with his decision to leave Iowa early and go professional, even though he would have been a serious candidate for the Outland Trophy, given annually to the best interior lineman in college football.

“Awards weren’t going to draw me back,” Bulaga said. “Awards are great and some people like them, but I’m one that really doesn’t need those. It would have been more for the relationships and the bond I have with the guys and the coaches here. Coach Ferentz is an amazing person and an amazing coach and I’ve had a really good relationship with him. Coach Morgan and coach Doyle and the guys on this team…my friends. Those were the things that kept drawing me back into it. I think I made the right decision; I don’t have any regrets about it, but the people in (the Hayden Fry Football Complex) that I loved to be around and that I respect were the things drawing me back in it.”

It was a scary month of September for Bulaga, who missed games against Iowa State, Arizona and Penn State because of a thyroid condition.

“Everything is great, all my levels are back to normal,” Bulaga said.

Now his main worry is picking out that right suit.