Petitti heading to Dallas via 2005 NFL Draft

Rob Petitti just needs a chance — that’s all he’s ever needed.

He will get just that in… Rob Petitti just needs a chance — that’s all he’s ever needed.

He will get just that in Dallas next season playing for coach Bill Parcells and the Cowboys, who selected him in last weekend’s NFL draft.

A Rumson, N.J., native, Petitti was drafted in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft as the 209th overall selection. He was the only Pitt Panther to be drafted, only a year after Pitt sent six to the NFL — Larry Fitzgerald, Shawntae Spencer, Kris Wilson, Claude Harriott, Andy Lee and Brandon Miree.

Petitti, who will turn 23 on May 21, was recruited by Pitt’s former head coach Walt Harris in 2000 after being overlooked by several other Big East schools.

“Boston College and Syracuse told me I wasn’t good enough to play in the Big East,” he said to The Pitt News before last season’s Backyard Brawl.

The 6-foot-6, 335-pound left tackle was a stronghold on the offensive line, protecting quarterback Tyler Palko and giving him the time to complete passes all year. Unfortunately, he was unable to play in the Fiesta Bowl because of an illness. As a result, Palko was sacked nine times in the 35-7 loss to Utah, whose quarterback, Alex Smith, was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

Teammate Vince Crochunis, who was also available in this year’s draft but was not chosen, talked about Petitti’s progression at Pitt in November.

“When he first came here, I remember he was kind of slow. He wasn’t very fast,” Crochunis said. “He’s definitely a guy who worked to become a good football player. He listened to coaches, what they had to say and what he needed to do to become an excellent football player. And that’s what he is. He’s one of the best offensive tackles in the country, I think.”

As a Cowboy, Petitti will look to do exactly what he did at Pitt: disprove all the doubters. He was the only offensive lineman taken by Dallas and one of two offensive players taken by the Cowboys, as they took running back Marion Barber III from Minnesota in the fourth round.

Parcells and owner Jerry Jones focused on defense this year, drafting three defensive players in the first two rounds, including defensive ends Demarcus Ware from Troy State and Marcus Spears from Louisiana State in the first round.