Transition at center a BC succession story

The day, as Dan Koppen recalled it, was just one giant party with family and friends at his parents' home in Apex, N.C., some two hours east of the hub of NASCAR racing in Charlotte. It was Draft Day. And it began with an air of anticipation for Koppen, a second-team All-Big East center and finalist for the Dave Rimington Trophy out of Boston College.

It ended with a celebration when the Patriots selected Koppen in the fifth round with the 164th pick. Even though he seemed to get upstaged by his BC roommate, quarterback Brian St. Pierre, who was taken one spot ahead of him by the Steelers, Koppen's moment in the spotlight could not be spoiled.

"I just remember it was a really, really happy day," Koppen said. "We had a pig picking that day, too."

That seemed fitting.

On the day the Patriots selected him to be their center of the future -- the not-too-distant future, as it turned out -- Koppen, the man for whom snapping a pigskin had become second nature, spent one of the most important days of his football career at a pig roast.

"I was just so proud to be with my family and friends for all the hard work they put in to help me reach that point," Koppen said. "When I got picked I was excited, happy, and I was hoping to come in and to just make the team."

That was the extent of Koppen's rookie aspirations.

All he wanted to do was to make enough of an impression on Bill Belichick and the coaching staff to stay in camp with a chance to make the team.

"I just wanted to get up there in camp, get with the guys and get settled," said Koppen, who has settled as the Patriots' starting center for the last 16 games. His 17th start will come in Sunday's AFC Championship.

But if Koppen was going to indeed settle, it initially appeared he was going to have do so behind the player he succeeded at BC, Damien Woody, a player Koppen greatly admired and respected. When Woody departed BC early for the NFL draft and was selected by the Patriots in the first round (17th overall) in 1999, Koppen, then a sophomore, slid right into the vacant spot on the line and owned it for three seasons.

"Damien really helped me a lot," Koppen said when asked about his reunion with Woody in the pro ranks. "He's the guy who really made it easy for me to get to know a lot of guys in the locker room. He's really looked out for me and was always willing to help out, especially in light of the circumstances."

The "circumstances" involved a season-ending foot injury to guard Mike Compton in Game 2. That forced the Patriots to juggle personnel. Woody moved from center to guard to fill Compton's spot and Koppen was thrust into the starting role at center.

"It would not have surprised me that he'd play in the NFL, because he was such a great player for us," said BC coach Tom O'Brien. "But the quickness that they've had to use him, I don't think they anticipated that, I don't think he anticipated it, and I certainly didn't anticipate that he'd a starting center his first year, especially where they drafted him."

Although there were questions about his size and his ability to grapple with gargantuan linemen, Koppen made up for any perceived deficiencies with his work ethic, toughness, and intellect -- all hallmarks of BC offensive linemen.

"It's the coaching we get at BC," Koppen said. "We play a good, pro-styled offense and the other thing is that the kids that they bring in all really love to play football."

Looking back at draft day, Koppen never imagined that his first year in the NFL would be like this, that he would flourish at a position where rookies seldom play, let alone excel.

"You don't think like that," said Koppen, "especially when you're a first-year player. Right now, it's something I try not to think about. I'll probably do that once the season is over." For now, Koppen will do everything in his power to make sure the season doesn't end Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

But whenever it does end, Koppen, a NASCAR diehard, plans to get his offseason off to a roaring start by attending the Daytona 500. If he does so as the starting center of the Super Bowl champions, so much the better. It might call for another Koppen family celebration.

Maybe even another pig picking.