You may or may not have heard the story of Wake Forest LB Jon Abbate whose younger brother was killed in a car accident last year after leaving lacrosse practice.

In honor of his brother, Jon changed his jersey number and dedicated his life to him and started the FIVE FOUNDATION.

 The devastating loss fueled the fire within Jon both on and off the field. Abbate went berserk posting 120 tackles and three sacks this past season.

No quit in this player

This story is about Jon the football player. An aggressive, hard-nose, linebacker who has no concept of what the word quit means. He's a 5-foot-10, 235-pound wrecking ball that continues to prove that size doesn't matter when it comes to putting on the hits.

Abbate is what you call a tackling machine, leading the Demon Deacons in tackles the last three seasons. His seek and destroy mentality on the field is what sets him apart from the other linebackers entering the draft.

Let's just say that Abbate will never have a future working at Motel 6 because he's more in tune with the lights out business.

However, Abbate has some obstacles and hurdles that he must overcome in this draft process. One being size which he has no control over the other being a lingering pulled hamstring injury.

Being undersized has been somewhat of a drawback for Abbate throughout his entire career, but at the same time he has been a productive player, something teams must take into consideration.

If a team looks at the player and not his size they will find out just how much fight is in this dog.

'No negatives'

Wake Forest linebacker coach Brad Lambert believes in the linebacker's ability to play at the next level and spoke volume about his star pupil.

"Jon is a highly motivated player," Lambert said. "He made a lot of plays for us and is very instinctive. He sees things that not a lot of guys see. He's an extremely hard-working kid and a joy to be around.

" I think given the right opportunity he will do well in the NFL. His size has never been an issue for us. I don't see any negatives with the guy."

Lambert would be the one to know. He coached at the University of Georgia for five years before coming to Wake Forest and several of the linebackers he coached, Tony Gilbert, Boss Bailey, Kendrell Bell, Will Witherspoon, are currently holding roster spots in the NFL.

Lambert said that Abbate is right up there with them.

Abbate has drawn comparison to the likes of Sam Mills, Jesse Tuggle, Zack Thomas and Gary Brackett who are all considered undersized by NFL standards.

The hamstring

When it comes to the lingering hamstring pull, Abbate could be his own worst enemy by not allowing the hamstring time to heal.

According to coach Lambert, Abbate is so intense and passionate about playing football that it was hard to keep the player off the field. He said that Abbate is the type of player who will try and play through an injury rather than miss time on the field.

That's the reason he was less than a 100 perecent at the combine and pulled up short around the 37 yard-line during the 40-yard dash at the school's pro day.

The coach admitted that he almost had to tie the linebacker down in order to keep him off the field when he was injured.

Based on sheer talent alone, Abbate could have easily been a first-day selection, but the hamstring injury subsequently has caused his stock to take a nosedive.

"Jon has to let his leg heal up and run well. Get into camp and show a team what he's all about because he is a good football player," coach Lambert said.

So, Big Jon... Chill baby, let it heal.

Despite not being able to perform up to his expectations, Abbate is drawing interest from a number of teams that include the Bengals, Ravens, Jaguars, Titans and Chiefs.

Check back for more on Abbate

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More to come...