Campbell blazes path from Germantown to the Combine

INDIANAPOLIS --- Ibraheim Campbell was the youngest of eight brothers growing up in Germantown, an experience he acknowledges helped him along his path from Chestnut Hill Academy to Northwestern to the NFL Scouting Combine, where Campbell is viewed as a midround pick.

Three of his older brothers played college football.

"It was a tremendous help," Campbell, 5-11 1/2, 210, said on a snowy Saturday in Indianapolis. "The brother that was closest in age to me (Rashad), he attended Cornell University. For, me, I felt like almost my entire life leading up to college was following after him, and he set a great example. He made my life that much easier. I'm extremely grateful for having him and the rest of my family be so supportive."

He didn't attend a high school known for producing NFL players.

"One of my other brothers went there. It was kind of a unique time; (CHA) had just entered back into the Inter-Ac (conference), just competing at somewhat of a high level in our city was a lot of fun. I was part of our first Inter-Ac championship team, which was pretty cool," said Campbell, who starred at running back and defensive back.

Did he see himself in the NFL back then?

"That was my goal. I didn't see any reason why it couldn't be accomplished," he said.

Campbell got a boost from a strong Senior Bowl week last month in Mobile, Ala.

"It was a great experience for me, especially considering I was sort of a late invite. It was an opportunity I was extremely grateful for, to be out there competing with the best," Campbell said. "That's what I was trying to do, and I think I did that well. I held my own out there, impressed some people. It was overall a good experience for me."

Is he a free or strong safety in the NFL?

"That's actually one of my strengths, my versatility. At Northwestern, we played left and right safety, so I could be the strong safety position or the free safety position. I feel like I'm pretty rangy as a free safety, and as a strong safety, I feel like I embrace the physicality of the position well."

What has he been hearing from teams?

"I've been hearing good things. They like my physicality, the way I come downhill (as a strong safety)," he said. "Some people are saying they see me as a free safety as well. I guess it all depends on what you're looking for."

Campbell has graduated from Northwestern, he said, with a degree in Economics.

"The opportunity to get one of the best educations in the country, and to compete in the one of the highest conferences in the country in the Big 10, you can't really top that," he said.