EARNING HIS STRIPES: Andrei Iosivas, right, eludes a Harvard player during his career with the Princeton University football team. Star wide receiver Iosivas was recently selected in the sixth round of the NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He is currently working out with the team as he looks to earn a spot on its final roster for the 2023 season. Iosivas finished his stellar Tiger career ranked third all-time in program history in touchdown catches (16), sixth in receiving yards (1,909), and 12th in receptions (125). (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Justin Feil
Andrei Iosivas has been battling a couple of stigmas as he tries to start his career in the NFL.
As an accomplished track athlete at Princeton University as well as a football player, he heard often from teams that wondered if he was a football-first athlete. He is. He gave up track this spring to focus on preparing for the NFL draft. And then, like many Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) prospects, he’s heard the doubts about jumping to the NFL from Princeton.
“If you go to North Dakota State, South Dakota State, stuff like that, people still respect you more,” said Iosivas. “They don’t really respect the Ivy League. People literally laugh about it. They say, ‘You played Harvard, Yale, a bunch of yacht dwellers.’ I’m always saying, ‘We have really good football.’ That was the chip on my shoulder more than the track thing.” more