Nassau HOF honors for East Meadow's Ohrnberger

Rich Ohrnberger enjoyed a legendary high school football career at East Meadow before graduating in 2004 and went on to star at Penn State University and play five seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman.

Two of those years as a pro, Ohrnberger spent with the Chargers in San Diego where he currently resides and has the best of both worlds in radio as host of classic rock and sports shows. And on Sept. 25, he added the Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame to a long list of accomplishments.

“I’m flattered by this honor,” said Ohrnberger, one of 28 inductees honored at the 2024 banquet at Crest Hollow County Club. “It’s almost like a reunion how many people are here to support me. It’s quite a thrill.”

He was a three-year, two-way starting lineman for East Meadow and as a senior won not only the Martone Award, presented to the top lineman in the county, but the Thorp Award as Nassau’s best player and the NYS Coaches Association Player of the Year. He was selected All-Long Island, All-Metro and named MSG Heisman First Team.

“Rich is not only a world class athlete, but a world class person,” longtime Jets head coach Vin Mascia said.

At Penn State, Ohrnberger twice earned All-Big Ten honors and in 2009 was selected in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. He went on to play 31 games in the NFL, his most memorable of which came in the 2013 playoffs when he came off the bench to make a significant contribution at center in San Diego’s 27-10 win in Cincinnati.

“That was incredible,” he said. “My phone messages after that game were a mile long.”

Three years into his pro career, East Meadow captured the Nassau Conference I championship and celebrated the title at a local restaurant. When Mascia went to collect the bill, the owner told him Ohrnberger called and paid for everything.

“That’s the kind of person Rich is,” Mascia said.