Some coaches said he was too slow. Others felt he wasn’t athletic enough or lacked the proper technique. One coach was turned off after watching him fail to dunk a basketball. A few liked Jay Bromley, but he was without a Division I scholarship offer by mid-June of his senior year.
This was before Bromley would turn a June all-star showcase into a scholarship to Syracuse and a productive college career that has him on the cusp of the NFL entering this week’s draft.
“It’s crazy when you think about it,” the 21-year-old Jamaica, Queens, native said in a phone interview.
Bromley, a 6-foot-3, 306-pound defensive tackle, took the criticism in stride, refusing to let the unimpressed coaches get him down. Instead, the ultra-positive Bromley enjoyed a brilliant senior season in high school.
“I was getting more stressed out than he was,” recalled Jim DeSantis, his coach at Flushing High School.
It all turned June of his senior year when Bromley made the all-city team, thanks to DeSantis’ lobbying, and an invite to the Outback Steakhouse Empire Challenge, the annual Long Island-New York City all-star game.
Bromley earned MVP honors, the best player in a game that featured prospects from a handful of Division I schools. The next day, then-Syracuse assistant coach John Anselmo’s phone was flooded with calls from local coaches raving about Bromley.
“Everybody said this kid Bromley was un-blockable,” recalled Anselmo, now an assistant special teams coach with the Bills. Anselmo, then-head coach Doug Marrone and defensive coordinator Scott Shafer quickly obtained the game film and were floored.
“We said, ‘Holy cow, this kid can play,’ ” Shafer said.
Less than a few days later, an offer was extended and Bromley was headed to Syracuse. Bromley quickly made an impression. Every weight-lifting session, every workout, every practice, he treated like it was his personal Super Bowl, Shafer said. Bromley felt he owed Syracuse for taking a chance on him.
“Jay said, ‘I have my opportunity I better make the most of it,’ ” Shafer said. “He always felt he had to earn and continue to earn his playing time.”
It translated into a standout career for Bromley, a three-year starter and all-ACC third-team selection who left Syracuse with 120 tackles, 24 ¹/₂ for a loss, and 13 sacks. Shafer praised his high football IQ, how well he would read plays, helping his defensive cohorts just by his positioning.
Bromley played down the significance of the Empire Challenge, saying he could have gone the prep school or junior college route and landed at a top Division I school that way. Nevertheless, his struggle was still significant — it instilled toughness.
“Sometimes I reflect on it,” he said. “Sometimes I think back and say, ‘Damn, I’m in a position I earned everything to get to.’ I fought and clawed for everything I have.”
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and the NFL Network’s Charles Davis project Bromley as a middle-round pick in this week’s draft. CBSSports.com has him ranked as the No. 19 defensive tackle. Those rankings grate on him.
“If you take any tackles off the board before me, I’m going to make you pay,” he said. “I feel I’m the best player at my position whenever I’m on the field. I feed off being underrated, I feed off not having exposure or getting the credit I deserve.”
Bromley graduates on Saturday at 4 p.m. with a diploma in hospitality management — the first member of his family with a college degree — and it is likely his name will be called the same day, when rounds four through seven take place.
There is even the possibility he will be walking across the stage to receive his degree at the same time he is selected.
“That would be something really unique,” Bromley said. “Hopefully my phone is loud enough or I feel it, because I don’t want to miss that call.”