Most college football seniors are now finished with their football careers, but that is not the case for William and Mary All-Americans defensive end Adrian Tracy and defensive tackle Sean Lissemore, who competed this past Saturday in the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Game in El Paso, Tex. Tracy was part of the Nation’s team, while Lissemore was added to Texas’s roster as a replacement about a week before the game.
“I got lucky a guy couldn’t make it, and I took his position and just made the best of the situation,” Lissemore said.
Some of the best players from all around the country were invited to come and prove themselves. Lissemore lined up next to players from SEC powerhouses Alabama and LSU, while Tracy played alongside players from schools like Oregon and Cincinnati.
“It’s a little bit of an intimidating factor because everyone puts them up on a pedestal, but then you start playing with these guys, and you realize that you’re on the same level, if not better than them,” Lissemore said.
In a key chance to impress NFL scouts, both Tribe stars represented themselves and their school very well. Tracy was featured at outside linebacker on the Nation’s team, the spot at which he will likely be deployed in the NFL. Lissemore helped lead the Texas team to a 36-17 win, posting four tackles, including a sack for a safety.
“In a normal game at William and Mary, I would have been pretty satisfied with those results,” Lissemore said. “And I feel like I really stepped up to the challenge and showed that I can play.”
With his performance Saturday, Lissemore thinks that he certainly boosted his draft stock. Both he and Tracy are projected to go as high as the 4th round of the NFL draft; 93 percent of the All-Star game’s 2009 roster (111 out of 119 players) went on to sign NFL contracts.
Tracy graduated from the College this past semester and is currently living and training in Miami, Fla. Lissemore continues to balance his class schedule with training four to five times a week with former Tribe teammates safety David Caldwell and wide receiver D.J. McCauley. The trio are preparing at Elkin Sports Performance in Richmond, the location that helped cornerback Derek Cox ’09 emerge as a third-round NFL draft pick last April.
