By Dave Ruthenberg

Staff writer

With single-minded determination and a chip on his shoulder, former Enid standout Daniel Holtzclaw became one of the most feared linebackers in the Mid-American Conference, etched his name in the record books at Eastern Michigan and finished his collegiate career as the nation’s career active leader in tackles.

Now, Holtzclaw hopes to use that same determination and attitude to parlay his collegiate success into a career in the NFL. While the odds may seem stacked against him, it only fuels Holtzclaw’s desire to prove the experts wrong.

Holtzclaw was a four-year starter at Eastern Michigan, starting 47 games at linebacker. In his freshman season he earned first-team recognition on the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-American team after recording 91 tackles, including a season-high 15 tackles in his very first start for the Eagles against Cincinnati.

“One of the games that I remember best was that first game at Cincinnati,” said Holtzclaw. “We came so close to upsetting them (EMU lost 28-26) and my first big tackle came against this big fullback who weighed like 280 pounds. It was on a fourth down play and I stuck him for the tackle and I remember that whole stadium going silent. That was a great feeling.”

Holtzclaw would have many more big plays over his career, finishing as Eastern Michigan’s second all-time leader in tackles with 437 stops in his career, just 13 tackles short of the record of 450 held by Reese McCaskill. His 437 career tackles also were the most of any active player in the NCAA.

During each of his last three seasons Holtzclaw had been named to the preseason watch lists of the Bronko Nagurski Award (best defensive player in the nation); the Rotary Lombardi Award (the nation’s top down lineman) and the Dick Butkus Award (nation’s top linebacker).

Holtzclaw’s work ethic is what stands out when others discuss his ability.

“Nobody works harder than that kid,” noted former Eastern Michigan head coach Jeff Genyk. “Whatever comes his way, he has earned it. He eats, lives and breathes football.”

“I have no regrets about going to Eastern Michigan, other than I wish we could have won a few games or gotten to a bowl game,” said Holtzclaw.

The next level

The Eagles struggled to win games (EMU compiled a 12-35 mark in his four years) and went through head coaches regularly — Genyk was fired at the end of this season — but that has not kept EMU players off of NFL rosters, most notably one of Holtzclaw’s teammates, defensive end Jason Jones.

Jones was selected in the second round of last season’s NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans. Holtzclaw tapped into Jones for some advice about selecting an agent.

That decision, made with the input of his family, including dad Eric, an 11-year veteran of the Enid Police Department, led him to Goal Line Football Management, which has been representing pro athletes since 1996.

Holtzclaw’s agent, Cary Fabrikant, believes Holtzclaw has the makeup to be an NFL player but knows coming from a low-profile school like Eastern Michigan means Holtzclaw will have to demonstrate some of that single-minded determination to get noticed.

“He is going to have to fight and claw his way, but from what we have seen, he can do it,” said Fabrikant. “He is an outstanding individual from a great family but it will be a roller coaster ride to get there. He has all the qualities it takes.’’

Holtzclaw is hoping to be invited to some of the postseason college all-star games, notably the East-West Shrine Game or the Texas vs. The Nation contest. The East-West game indicated an interest in Holtzclaw.

Another invitation he hopes for is to the NFL Scouting Combine, which is a six-day job fair for prospective players.

“During the season we had scouts from the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins, but I didn’t have any conversations with them,” said Holtzclaw.

How he ranks

Most draft monitoring services have Holtzclaw on their board and rate him as a mid- to late-round draft choice. NFL Draft Scout.com, one of the top monitoring sites on the Internet, ranks Holtzclaw 19th out of 147 prospective players at inside linebacker. He is ranked as high as 10th at linebacker by College Football News.com.

“He is seen right now as a 7th round to priority free agent,” notes NFL Draft Scout.com senior draft analyst Chad Reuter.

“He is a very instinctual player. He has good size (6-foot-1, 245 pounds) but lacks explosiveness. When you watch him on films you see that he is very smart and rarely out of position.”

Reuter goes on to note being drafted in the sixth or seventh round is far from a guarantee of landing on an NFL roster.

“There is only a 50-50 chance to make it as a late-round draft pick,” Reuter added.

“Right now there are 40-60 players in the NFL who are on rosters that were not drafted, so you have just as good of a chance to make it going undrafted as you would if you were drafted in the late rounds.

“With the right team, he could definitely earn some playing time at linebacker or on special teams.

“But an impressive performance at one of the college all-star games or at the NFL Scouting Combine could significantly impact his draft status.’’

However, even without an appearance in one of the all-star games or a combine invitation, players still can make an impression at various independent training camps or when their school holds “pro day.”

Holtzclaw will be heading to New Jersey to participate in a training facility and will have a chance to go through the same paces and tests as he would be subjected to at the combine.

No matter the route required to get to the NFL, Holtzclaw is willing to take it.

“Football is what I want to do and playing in the NFL is my dream, so I am going to do whatever it takes to get there,” said Holtzclaw.

Holtzclaw said he would play in the Canadian Football League if it would lead him to getting a shot in the NFL.

Holtzclaw is only a handful of credits shy of obtaining a degree in criminal justice from Eastern Michigan.