
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 19, 1994                   TAG: 9408190093
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: LARRY KEECH LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C.                                 LENGTH: Medium

TAR HEEL'S PLACE IS END OF THE LINE

In the thirty years since the tight end position was introduced to football, the vast majority of players to hold the position either have excelled as blockers or receivers, seldom both.

The stars at the position usually are the ones who catch the most passes.

That's why North Carolina's Greg DeLong is such a rare find.

At 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, DeLong has been an exceptional blocker since his high school years in Oreville, Pa. As DeLong's college career progressed, however, Carolina's coaching staff has learned that he is not only an excellent blocker, but has a rare knack for receiving.

So, even though DeLong's 1993 season was cut in half by a knee injury, he still has one more chance to take his place as one of the conference's finest tight ends, joining Clemson's Bennie Cunningham, Wake Forest's Steve Young and Maryland's Ferrell Edmunds.

His talents as a defensive end first attracted recruiters to Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. But then he made it known that he preferred the tight end position.

``I liked offense better than defense because you feel more in control when you know where the ball is going,'' DeLong said.

Pressed into service in a backup role when he was a UNC freshman in '91, DeLong caught three passes. The following year, he caught14 more, still averaging slightly less than 15 yards per reception. ``Once I started catching passes, it was fun,'' DeLong said. ``All I had to learn was to concentrate on the ball.''

DeLong was on his way to an excellent junior season when a freakish, non-contact misstep in the N.C. State game tore his left anterior cruciate ligament.

But after surgery, rehabilitation process and an arthroscopic procedure to clean up the injury, DeLong is ready to become the kind of classic tight end who remains only too rare - a receiver on most of his team's pass plays, a blocker on the runs.

``My receiving role has been expanded,'' DeLong said. ``I'll be running all kinds of routes, short and deep. It's going to be fun.''

by CNB