FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Like many players in high school, Julian Howsare started on both sides of the ball, though for college he had to choose. The coaches at Clarion University projected him as a defensive end, so that was where he played, demoralizing quarterbacks with an array of speed rushes and spin moves.
Part of him yearned to play offense again — whenever the Golden Eagles possessed the ball near the goal line, Howsare would badger the offensive coordinator, Chris Weibel, to let him run it in — but by the end of a career studded with awards and accolades, he had begun attracting interest from some N.