Bulaga's parents helped pave path to NFL decision

On Nov. 30, Joe and Kathi Bulaga got prepared for a flood of phone calls.

The Crystal Lake residents, and the parents of Marian Central grad and Iowa standout left offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga, set out note pads near the telephones in their home.

Along with the help of their son, they prepared a list of questions for NFL agents, who by league rules can begin calling prospective clients and their families on Dec. 1.

The night before December began, Joe Bulaga paused for a moment.

"I thought, 'What if nobody calls?' " he said.

RINGING IN THE PROCESS

The next day, those concerns disappeared almost immediately. 

"There were messages on the machine when we got home from work," Kathi Bulaga said. "And from 5 p.m. to midnight, we were on the phone. That first week, it was every night. And they don't just want to talk for 5 minutes."

While their son improved his draft status on the field, where he was earning Big Ten Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year honors, Bryan Bulaga's parents were doing their own share of heavy lifting.

On Wednesday night, the 20-year-old Bulaga announced via the University of Iowa Web site that he was leaving school after his junior season. One night later, he was in an apartment in Phoenix after choosing an agent based on the behind-the-scenes work his parents had done on his behalf.

"It is very humbling," Kathi Bulaga said. "We're just regular people from Crystal Lake."

YOU'VE GOT MAIL - AND LOTS OF IT

The process began before Dec. 1 with Bryan Bulaga asking his parents to handle all phone calls so he could focus on football.

His parents received so many packets in the mail from agents and advisers with plans for their son, they put his old furniture to good use.

"Bryan has an empty dresser in his bedroom," Kathi Bulaga said. "All five drawers are full of things from agents. I could wallpaper his bedroom with it all."

The questions the Bulagas prepared came in handy right away.

"We wanted to know what they knew about Bryan," Joe Bulaga said. "That eliminated a lot of agencies."

During some of the phone conversations, they also got some unusual feedback.

"We had grown men telling us, 'You're son is going to be our boss,' " Kathi Bulaga said.

TALKING POINTS

The Bulagas regularly related the information to their son, discussing topics such as finances, possible NFL labor strife and returning to school for his senior season.

"We would play devil's advocate with him and we made him think," Kathi Bulaga said. "It was a lot of soul searching, a lot of discussion."

Before Bryan Bulaga left Iowa City for Miami and the team's Orange Bowl preparations, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz asked his star offensive lineman what the probability was of him leaving school. The answer then, the Bulagas said, was a 70-percent chance of leaving, which all parties involved kept very quiet. 

"I wanted to keep everything close to the vest," Bryan Bulaga said Thursday night. "I didn't want anything to get out. I didn't want anybody to think I wasn't focused on the game, because I was focused on the game."

Playing against a Georgia Tech team that boasts Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year Derrick Morgan and fellow standout defensive end Anthony Egbuniwe were two things that kept Bulaga's mind very much on football.

"I don't think he felt (pressure) at all," Joe Bulaga said. "He was so worried about No. 91 (Morgan) and No. 41 (Egbuniwe). He can stay very focused."

Morgan, who had 12 1/2 sacks during the season, was held without a sack and managed only three tackles in the Orange Bowl.

"I wanted to go out in a good fashion," Bryan Bulaga said. "I thought I did a pretty good job."

THE NEXT STEP

After the game, Bryan Bulaga informed Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz of his decision to leave. Bulaga then spent the next 24 hours choosing Tom Condon and Ben Dogra of Creative Artists Agency's Football Division as his agents and getting on a plane for Phoenix, where he will work out in preparation for his NFL auditions.

"He deserves all of this," Joe Bulaga said. "He's worked his rear end off for this."

For his parents, they spent Thursday breathing a sigh of relief.

"We're still in a little bit of shock," Joe Bulaga said. 

Kathi Bulaga also took time to think back only three short years ago, when her son's college career began.

"I can still remember him going off to college," she said. "Now the journey begins. This is his job now."

Barry Bottino writes a weekly column and a blog about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at BarryOnCampus@hotmail.com and check out his On Campus column every Saturday in the Northwest Herald sports section.