Joe Ostman

Classroom

Joe Ostman carries a 3.77 GPA as a business management major. He was awarded the Dick Enberg Scholar-Athlete Award in September and is a finalist for the Bill Boyden Leadership Award, which honors the best male and female student-athletes at CMU. He also received the inaugural Dustin Preston Leadership Award, introduced to honor a member of the football team who shines on and off the field.

Character

Ostman was chosen as a co-captain by his teammates. He grew up in the small tourist town of Mackinaw City at the tip of the Lower Peninsula in Michigan, and he went to high school in St. Ignace, the southern-most city in the Upper Peninsula. That meant his commute to school included crossing five miles over the Mackinac Bridge. It was a life far removed from the large Class A schools throughout the Lower Peninsula. It also meant that even as a three-time state wrestling champion and a high school football career where he recorded more than 400 tackles, he had to work harder to attract Division I offers.

Ostman also regularly volunteers to take part in community events, and he is an unquestioned leader on the football team in terms of work ethic.

Community

When Ostman takes part with Special Olympians each summer on campus, he is fully engaged with the athletes and volunteers. He was that way when CMU helped launch renovations at the Eagle Village, a home for disadvantaged youth, earlier this year. He is a quality mentor to youth at football camps, and he even helped out at an annual middle school dance in Mount Pleasant. He also is a regular on visits to the Gleaners Community Food Bank.

Competition

In 2016 Ostman started all 13 games at defensive end and was named to the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team Defense. He was CMU’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year after he recorded 69 tackles and led CMU with nine sacks. He also had 13.5 tackles for a loss and forced two fumbles. For his career, Ostman entered his senior season with 160 tackles, 26 tackles for a loss and 14 sacks in 41 games.

Three games into the 2017 season, Ostman had 12 tackles—three for a loss of yards—one sack and two quarterback hurries.