Ali Marpet, 55, in action for Hobart College, expects to go in the first four rounds of the NFL Draft. (Kevin Colton\/Hobart College)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Fuerst, a senior at Tulane, will fly up from New Orleans to be there along with scores of other friends and relatives. He’s well familiar with the home, having spent plenty of Friday nights there with other friends of Marbet for Sabbath candlelighting and singing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a given that we\u2019d show up [there],\u201d said Fuerst, who has known Marpet since the sixth grade. Another childhood pal, George Moore, will be traveling from Japan, where he serves with the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n
Their being on hand \u2013 along with Ali\u2019s two older brothers and younger sister, who live in Chicago and Florida \u2013 \u201cmeans a lot,\u201d Marpet said.<\/p>\n
In the NFL, he would join such Jewish players as offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz of the New York Giants, Marpet’s favorite team growing up.<\/p>\n
Marpet didn\u2019t consider playing pro football a realistic aspiration until enjoying what he described as a \u201cpretty dominant\u201d sophomore season, when he weighed 270 pounds — small by NFL standards among offensive linemen. That sense was bolstered, he said, by a strong workout before NFL scouts following his junior year.<\/p>\n
Michael Green, Hobart\u2019s assistant offensive line coach last season and a teammate the two prior years, said that Marpet inspired the Statesmen with his dedication, leadership and humility.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw him as a leader by example. He was a two-year captain because he was so dominant on the football field and because of how hard he worked,\u201d Green said. \u201cHe was a mentor to other players and helped build their skills, their technique. And he\u2019s been humble \u2013 never a cocky guy or egotistical, but confident.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill Marpet described his son as \u201ca quiet person\u201d who\u2019s never in a bad mood. Beginning in childhood, whether bowling or learning to ride a bicycle, his son always has been \u201ccompletely focused\u201d on the task at hand.<\/p>\n
Even during a family vacation in Jamaica a year ago, the elder Marpet recalled, his son was single-minded in his approach to his football training, setting his phone to ring every two hours as a reminder to eat protein bars, sandwiches and fruit, and working out regularly.<\/p>\n
A videographer in Manhattan\u2019s fashion industry, Bill Marpet was a studio cameraman for a Tel Aviv-based educational television program while living in Israel from 1974 through 1979; his first wife was Israeli.<\/p>\n
Ali Marpet is indirectly responsible for his dad meeting his fiancee, Susan Liberati, as the two divorced parents regularly watched their sons — co-captains on the Hastings High squad — play football.<\/p>\n
Throughout the three-day draft, Marpet said, \u201cI\u2019ll be waiting for the phone call\u201d from the NFL team that selects him and is excited to see where he’ll end up.<\/p>\n
He would be just the third Division III player in the past seven years to be selected. Few have gained prominence in the league — Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garcon, Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson and Seattle Seahawks placekicker Steven Hauschka are the notable exceptions still active, and Jackson and Hauschka went undrafted.<\/p>\n
Marpet, an economics major at Hobart with a minor in philosophy and public policy, said he\u2019ll proudly represent his small school and Division III players in the NFL. The Jews, too: He said it would be \u201ca huge honor\u201d to represent Jewish athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy to wave that flag,\u201d Marpet said.<\/p>\n
![\"ali](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/ali-marpet-on-camel.jpg\")