Sean Karl a big-time talent
Eastport-South Manor's Sean Karl (63, left), goes up against Islip's Travis Molin (7, right), during their game at Islip High School. (Oct. 29, 2011) Credit: Richard Slattery
Sean Karl was big for his age -- not usually a detriment for a would-be football player, but downright devastating in this particular case.
A then-husky Massachusetts second-grader who wanted, more than most things, to be on the local Pop Warner team, he said he exceeded the weight limit that would let him play with kids his age. After an experiment that placed him with fifth- and sixth-graders failed, his parents decided that yes, football was important, but no, it wasn't that important.
"His maturity level in playing with [that team] made us uncomfortable," his father, Peter Karl, said. "It seemed crazy that a second-grader was playing with fifth- and sixth- graders. We love football, but not at that expense."
And so Sean Karl, who would grow to be a 6-6, 303-pound lineman for Eastport-South Manor, bided his time. He played pickup games, mostly at running back, and, when his family moved to New York his last year of junior high, he joined the eighth-grade team. Finally, six years after his disappointment, he'd get his chance.
"And he played with a vengeance," Peter Karl said.
Five years of organized football, played with a vengeance, is what it took to get Sean Karl to where he is now -- and a starting offensive and defensive lineman. He's a highly touted recruit who, his dad says, has to be pulled out of the weight room. The recruiting website Rivals.com lists the senior tackle as the fourth-best offensive lineman in the state, 60th in the country. And, after committing to the University of Virginia in July, he is Long Island's most high-profile recruit.
"That was a big surprise for me," Karl said during practice this week, adding that he realized the potential for a college or even NFL career his sophomore year. "I had the height in ninth grade, but I wasn't strong, so I went to the weight room all through my ninth-grade year and 10th grade I had a good season . . . I just try to do my job and create the best opportunities for my teammates."
Peter, a former offensive lineman at Bethpage, said he was convinced of his son's potential after seeing his highlight reel last year. "You're used to seeing things on the field," he said. "You can't appreciate them 'til you slow them down."
Eastport-South Manor's hope of a postseason playoff berth has fallen short. But this season is one to build on for the Sharks (3-5), who won only eight games in the previous seven seasons.
Tucked away between tracts of farmland in Manorville, deep Suffolk, it's not easy to get Division I attention, but "they find him, when you're of that caliber,'' coach Paul Mastronardi said. Mastronardi joined the staff in May, but has been coaching for more than 20 years, and said he's never had a player grade out at 95 percent or above every game, as Karl has. Playing on the defensive line, Karl has 50 tackles, 11 for a loss, and four sacks.
"That's why everybody in the country wants him," Mastronardi said. "His feet. We had the colleges down looking at him this past spring, and when they see him, they can't believe how good his feet are. He plays center on the basketball team, he's just extremely athletic and to get a kid that size and that athletic, that's everything a Division I program wants."
It's not hyperbole. Karl had offers from Syracuse, Buffalo, the University of Connecticut and Stony Brook. He also was courted by Vanderbilt, Boston College, Delaware and Maine, but committed fairly early to Virginia, which has a track record for academics and an NFL pedigree.
Karl hopes to study business.
"It was a privilege to go through ," Peter Karl said. "We came up with a matrix of what was important: It was where the college was situated regionally, academics were a big factor and if they have an NFL track record."
When the family visited the Virginia campus, Peter said, they were sold.
In addition to doing good things for the Karls, Sean's success is doing great things for high school football on the Island, even if offensive linemen aren't the first to stand out, Mastronardi said.
"It's not like the Stacey Bedells [of Floyd] or the [Robbie] Healys [of East Meadow]," Mastronardi said. "If Sean pancakes the kid across from him, that's one block, but if we have a failure on the back side or somewhere else, obviously the play isn't going to work.
"With him, though, hopefully, people recognize football is an option. We grow them here the same as Texas."
