Drushal to Play for Team USA in Japan This July

Rick Drushal will continue his football career in Japan this July.

» USA Football press release

Rick Drushal (Lakeville, Ohio / West Holmes), who has played in Mexico as part of an NCAA Div. III all-star team and at the National Football League’s Cleveland Browns’ rookie mini-camp since concluding his career at The College of Wooster as a three-time All-American offensive lineman, will now get another opportunity on the gridiron, as USA Football recently (May 23) picked him to play for Team USA at the 2007 World Championship of American Football in Kawasaki, Japan, this July.

This is the third such event staged by the International Federation of American Football, also taking place in 1999 and 2003, but the first time the United States national team is participating. In fact, this is the first Team USA that has been assembled in the sport of football.

The event consists of two three-team divisions, one made up of Germany, Korea, and USA, and the other of France, two-time defending champion Japan, and Sweden. Team USA’s first game will be against Korea July 10 and then it’ll take on Germany on July 12, while the championship game will be July 15.

Drushal was one of just nine Div. III players selected for the elite 45-man squad, which will be under the direction of John Mackovic, a 35-year head coaching veteran, including stints with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs (1983-86) and the University of Texas (1992-98). The team members were 2006 college seniors and represent all levels of college football, ranging from the University of Arizona and the University of Michigan to NCAA Div. II and Div. III, and NAIA schools.

Drushal, who was waived by the Browns, started at left tackle for Wooster a school-record 42 games the last four seasons (2003-06), while collecting numerous awards. The 6-4, 295-pound standout was all-North Coast Athletic Conference four times, including first-team as a sophomore, junior, and senior, and named to various Div. III All-America Teams. After the Scots’ perfect regular season in 2004 (10-0), Football Gazette tabbed him a second-team All-American, followed by honorable mention on D3football.com’s 2005 All-America Team, and as a senior, he was one of 18 Div. III players selected on to the Associated Press Little All-America Team and to the American Football Coaches’ Assoc. 25-member All-America Team.

Equally impressive in the classroom, Drushal was a member of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® First Team and a recipient of a prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship this past year.

Team USA will prepare for the World Championship of American Football via a two-week training camp, starting June 20 at San Jose State University and wrapping up July 4 when they depart for Kawasaki.