World news

Banner day for D'Brickashaw in Freeport

There was no speech. No introductions. None needed to be made.

Jets offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson - all 6-6, 313 pounds of him - stood outside Freeport High School yesterday signing autographs and shaking hands, his imposing frame offset by a broad smile.

Ferguson was swarmed the way you'd expect as the No. 4 overall pick in the NFL draft. But the crowd was a familiar one. Ferguson, surrounded by former teachers, coaches and teammates, arrived home for the first time since becoming a Jet two months ago.

He was on hand to see the unveiling of a 20-by-5-foot banner that read: "Freeport High School congratulates 2006 first round draft pick D'Brickashaw Ferguson." The banner, the brainchild of Freeport football coach Russ Cellan and donated by the Jets, now hangs prominently across the school's front entrance.

"I wanted to get something acknowledging that he's from our school and we're proud of him," said Cellan, who has three former players in the NFL, including linebackers Morlon Greenwood (Houston) and Clifton Smith (Cleveland).

After a humbling three-day minicamp and a daily diet of workouts at the Jets' training facility in Hempstead, yesterday's ceremony helped the former Freeport standout reconnect with his past. Ferguson may have moved on to the University of Virginia and his parents may have relocated to Landsdale, Pa., but no one forgot him at Freeport. The feeling was mutual.

"There's only one home, and Freeport's it for me," Ferguson said. "This is big-time. I don't think there's anything else I can get that's as big an honor."

The memories shared were of a polite and smart teenager who eventually settled into his oversized frame and dominated Nassau football. Ferguson graced Newsday's high school football preview as a senior and ended the 2001 season as the first lineman in 22 years to win the Thorp Award as Nassau's outstanding football player.

"It's extremely important to recognize D'Brickashaw Ferguson, and not just athletically," superintendent Eric Eversley said. "He was such an excellent student and a positive human being. That's what endears him to Freeport so much."

Maybe Freeport will see even more of Ferguson in the future. Ferguson, who has yet to sign with the Jets and is living in a dorm at Hofstra for now, has begun house-hunting.

He will attend the four-day NFL Rookie Symposium in Carlsbad, Calif., beginning Sunday. It's where draft picks get lessons on how to handle life as an NFL player, both on and off the field. Judging from Ferguson's minicamp performance and his warm reception at Freeport, he's got the basics down.