Lake Zurich grad to protect Manning
The Manhattan-sized kid passed on the big city, big lights atmosphere of New York City's Radio City Music Hall for the NFL Draft Thursday night.
Funny enough, where 6-foot-7, 311-pound Anthony Castonzo felt most comfortable was in the cozy confines of his family's Italian restaurant Oregano's in Hawthorn Woods.
There, surrounded by his immediate family — dad Bill, mom Shari and older siblings Billy, Kristyn and Carissa — and a few dozen other family members and friends, the Lake Zurich High School graduate sat patiently at a table for more than an hour waiting for a phone call from an NFL team to tell him they were selecting him.
At 9:18 p.m., Castonzo received his life-changing call.
The Indianapolis Colts selected the Boston College offensive tackle with the 22nd pick in the first round.
“I've never had emotions like that run through my body,” said Castonzo, wearing an Indianapolis Colts cap and an ear-to-ear smile. “My heart's speeding up, my foot's bouncing on the ground. I only had about five Dr. Peppers so I had all the caffeine running through my body. I was getting a little antsy.”
The Hawthorn Woods resident said his agent, Tom Condon, told him he could be drafted anywhere between the ninth and 22nd picks. Two offensive tackles, Tyron Smith (ninth to Dallas) and Nate Solder (17th to New England), were selected before Castonzo.
“My dad kept saying, ‘You could be blocking for Peyton (Manning),' ” Castonzo said. “I'm like, ‘All right. That's a good point. I could live with that.' ”
Spending the biggest night of his young life with his family and friends was the only way to go for Castonzo. He and his family fought back tears and embraced when the Colts told him the good news.
“I didn't want to be possibly waiting in New York with just a little bit of support around me,” Castonzo said. “If I was going to be waiting, I wanted some (more) support. I ended up waiting for a while.
“That moment when I got picked, when I got that call, that was unlike anything. Having everybody there, it was really like a perfect moment.”