OCC standout DeLeone gets All-American honor

Orange Coast College sophomore Dean DeLeone has been named first-team All-American in football by J.C. Grid-Wire.

The 6-foot-2, 245-pound defensive end, the Defensive Player of the Year in the Southern Conference National Division, led the Pirates with 78 tackles, including 9 1/2 sacks and 15 1/2 tackles for loss. In 10 games, DeLeone, the son of former Ohio State All-American and 12-year NFL center Tom DeLeone, recorded seven quarterback hurries and he broke up five passes.

He also returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

DeLeone was a first-team All-Mission Conference American Division performer as a freshman, playing for the first time in five years.

Now 25, DeLeone, a self-described late bloomer, was an unherlded high school player in Utah, then spent four years in the Coast Guard.

— Barry Faulkner