Jake Carlock's tip-drill TD in first preseason game for Giants a replay of his Stony Brook days
Jake Carlock’s 59-yard tip-drill pick-6 in the Giants’ preseason opener on Thursday night certainly turned heads. The undrafted Long Islander got the entire Giants sideline fired up, was a bit of a media darling in the locker room after the game and found his way onto highlight reels on television.
But for Victor Ochi and Chuck Priore, the linebacker’s big moment was nothing new.
The Babylon native — who spent his first three years of college at Stony Brook before finishing up at LIU Post — had tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage, caught the ball off his own tip and sprinted down the sideline to the end zone once before in his career.
“Buddy made the same exact play his first camp in Stony,” Ochi, a Valley Stream native and former Stony Brook edge rusher, tweeted during Thursday night’s game.
Carlock enrolled at Stony Brook in 2014 — two years before Ochi embarked on an NFL career as an undrafted rookie — after twice being named to Newsday’s All-Long Island football first team. He redshirted his first year, then played two seasons before transferring to LIU Post after the 2016 season to pursue a post-playing career in education.
The Giants, Carlock’s favorite team growing up, called him this past April and signed him to their training camp roster, altering that career path.
At Stony Brook media day on Friday, Seawolves coach Priore smiled when asked about Carlock’s play and Ochi’s recollection of that training camp five years ago.
“It’s funny, because I do remember the play specifically,” Priore said. “And that’s when we knew he was going to be a great athlete and a good football player.”
Priore called Carlock’s touchdown “pretty cool” and knows the impact of that play will go well beyond simply improving Carlock’s chances of making the Giants.
“Having him here as a player, he represented correctly, went to Post and had a great finish to his career,” Priore said. “And having Long Island people succeed in the NFL is as crucial for high school football and identification with success.”
Nick Klopsis is Newsday.com's sports editor. He often can be found studying NFL and college football film for his latest draft breakdown.
