12/24/2006

Bazuin overcomes tragedy to excel

Brother's death haunts Chippewas' NFL-bound DE

BY JAMES COOK

jcook@record-eagle.com

Special to the Record-Eagle
Dan Bazuin has become one of college football’s most feared defensive ends.

MOUNT PLEASANT — Not everything was picture perfect for Dan Bazuin this year.

The McBain product was honored as last year's Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year, was invited to play in two all-star games after this season and reaped a host of other honors.

But when Bazuin's Central Michigan University football team opened the season against Boston College on national television, there was one person who wasn't watching.

Bazuin's younger brother, Darin, committed suicide over the summer, not long after competing in the state track and field finals and accepting a track scholarship from Saginaw Valley State University.

"It was hard, especially that first game, knowing he wouldn't be out there when I played Boston College,” Dan said. "That's definitely a game he wouldn't have missed.

"Overcoming that and dealing with my emotions was tough, but you have to move on.”

The Chippewas' leader on defense did that.

Despite almost constant double-teams from opponents trying to keep him from disrupting their passing games, Bazuin still had 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss, adding to his totals that already stood atop the CMU record books.

The Chippewas will be playing in Tuesday's Motor City Bowl — Central's first bowl game in 12 years — without coach Brian Kelly, who left the CMU program to accept the head coaching position at Cincinnati.

"We're out to prove that no one man makes a team and that includes the coach,” Bazuin said. "It wasn't him alone that got us to the bowl game.”

The 6-foot-3, 272-pound defensive end will then play in the Hula Bowl and East-West Shrine Game to try to impress more NFL scouts before April's NFL Draft. Early mock drafts have Bazuin going in the second or third round, along with CMU left tackle Joe Staley.

This year Bazuin finished behind Western Michigan linebacker Ameer Ismail for the honor as the MAC's top defender, but Bazuin's career marks of 33.5 sacks and 61 tackles for loss stand far ahead of anyone else on Central's all-time lists and his combination of speed, power and intelligence (he's an academic All-American with a 3.39 GPA) make him an ideal defensive end for the NFL.