Schreiber Alum Ends Football Career With Honors

Harry Jung got an education on how not to make a mistake on the football field when he was at Paul D. Schreiber High School.

Joe Del Gais, his defensive coordinator at Schreiber, made a habit of saying "NG" whenever Jung made a mistake. The infamous acronym meaning "no good," stuck with Jung through college, where he recently finished his career as a defensive lineman at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.

"He coached me ferociously and did not accept failure," said Jung, who stands at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds. "The way he coached me, made me never make mistake on the field. Coach used to yell at me when I made a play, when it wasn't good enough. I really appreciated Coach Del Gais for being hard on me and making the college football player I became."

Jung brings the same intensity to his studies. He is double majoring in anthropology and government and plans on attending law school somewhere near Long Island next year following graduation.

This year, he was named to the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) 2009 Fall All-Sportsmanship Team.

A Korean-American, Jung plans on using his bilingual traits in Korea after law school.

Aside from winning, Jung's favorite part about football is being able to represent his culture and heritage. It means a great deal to the Port Washington product, who graduated from Schreiber in 2006.

"[It's great] representing Koreans around the world," he said, "knowing that a Korean-American student-athlete playing college football is possible."

In high school, he also played baseball and wrestled and received All-Conference honors on the mat in the super heavyweight class his junior year.

Jung was recruited by a handful of Ivy League, Patriot League and Division III schools, but when he injured his knee during his junior year, it hindered the process a bit. Luckily for Jung, he was able to attend two showcases before he graduated, which turned out to be significant for his future.

"It was there where I established that I still had it in me even though I was just coming back from my first ACL  (anterior cruciate ligament) reconstruction surgery," said Jung, who also had knee surgery during his freshman and junior seasons of college. "All the NESCAC schools were recruiting me hard."

He was getting letters and calls from Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan, Trinity, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Tufts and Middlebury -- all outstanding academic institutions.

Being a defensive lineman, Jung wouldn't normally get much attention, especially since he was on the interior of the line in the middle of the trenches for most of his career. His diligence paid off and he was moved to the defensive end position by his senior season at Hamilton. Jung finished his college football career with 21 tackles and one forced fumble.

"Being a lineman is what it means to be a man," Jung said. "When you ask anyone who has played football, putting your hand on the ground every play trying to beat the guy in front of you is no easy task."