Weekly Features Across ESPN Platforms

Against All Odds
Sunday’s Outside the Lines (8 a.m. ET ESPN, noon ESPNEWS)

Florida Atlantic University linebacker Frantz Joseph is hoping to buck the odds this weekend by having his name called during the NFL Draft. Despite living in poverty while being raised by his mother, a Haitian immigrant, Joseph excelled in football, earning a scholarship to Boston University. After redshirting his freshman year, he decided to return to Florida to aid his ailing mother, working odd jobs to help with bills and enrolling at Florida Atlantic University where he ranked second in the country in tackles (154) his senior season. He was not invited to the NFL combine, and has been left to impress NFL scouts at his Pro Day at Florida Atlantic and through individual workouts. Greg Garber reports.

Director of Player Development Impacts Team in Bigger Way
Sunday’s SportsCenters (9 a.m., 11 p.m.)

O.J. Brigance, one of the few players win both a CFL Grey Cup and NFL Super Bowl, made the first tackle of Super Bowl XXXV as special team captain of the Baltimore Ravens. The seven-year NFL veteran (Miami, Baltimore, St. Louis, New England) is now the Ravens Director of Player Development, but impacts the franchise in a much deeper way. Mark Schwarz reports on how Brigance’s battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease showed the 2008-09 Ravens what true strength really is.

Draft Preview Show to Profile Ole Miss Lineman Who Survived Tough Childhood
Saturday’s ESPN 11 a.m.-1 p.m. SportsCenter Special: On The Clock

Awaiting this weekend’s NFL Draft is Ole Miss offensive lineman Michael Oher, one of 13 children raised in the inner city of North Memphis by a drug-addicted mother and an absentee father who was murdered when Michael was in high school. Oher was in and out of foster care until age 16 when he was adopted by a wealthy white family that helped him navigate the curriculum at a private Christian school. With their support, Oher improved from a third-grade level education to earning his high school diploma in just three years. Rachel Nichols reports. From the piece:

Rachel Nichols: “So much about pro football is about persevering under tough conditions, why are you particularly qualified for that?”

Michael Oher: “Because I’ve been through tough times in my life, and I feel like I’m doing something that I love to do. They said it’s going to be tough, but I’ve been through tough situations and I feel it’s going to be easy for me.

RN: “Tell about those tough situations when you were a kid.”

MO: “Just growing up, not eating a lot of the times, not having a place to stay, getting evicted and things like that. It was tough growing up, so football, it’s something I love to do. I have a passion for it and it’s important to me.”

This week’s E:60 will profile Boston Celtics Stephon Marbury, James Stewart, the most dominant athlete in his sport, and other topics

Stephon Marbury Revealed:
E:60’s Lisa Salters explores the conflicting sides of Boston Celtics guard Stephon Marbury as he opens up about the most tumultuous chapters of his life. Topics covered include his public divorce with his hometown New York Knicks last winter, his feud with former Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, and his shocking testimony in Thomas’ sexual-harassment trial. More intimate matters are also discussed, leaving Marbury in tears and exposing a side of him hardly anyone has seen.

James Stewart’s Dominance: Supercross rider James Stewart, the first African-American to win a major motorsports title, is often called the “Tiger Woods” of his sport as the most dominant athlete in competition. Earning more than $10 million annually, Stewart has not only broken numerous records, he has broken barriers as well. His father collected cans to help pay for his son’s racing, and Stewart tells E:60’s Michael Smith about the blatant racism he has endured at the racetrack.

Matt Harrington

Deal or No Deal
Sunday’s Outside the Lines (8 a.m. ESPN, noon ESPNEWS)
Amy Nelson’s piece appears on ESPN.com

A decade ago, Matt Harrington was a prized young pitcher and a can’t-miss prospect. His blazing fastball soon made the 6′3″ right-hander the top high school hurler in the nation, and when the Colorado Rockies selected him with their first-round draft pick in 2000, he was on the fast track to baseball fame and fortune. It never happened. In one of the most notorious contract dramas in baseball history, over the next four-plus years Harrington would come to be drafted five times by five different clubs — Rockies, Padres, Rays, Reds and Yankees — but he never signed a big league deal. Today, instead of chasing major league hitters, the 27-year-old changes tires in a repair shop outside Dallas. Outside the Lines’ Kelly Naqi looks back at the curious case of Matt Harrington.

“A kid that had tremendous potential that never threw a pitch professionally. Had numerous opportunities. No one ever found out if he was any good or not.”– Kevin Towers, Padres General Manager, on how baseball people view Hamilton

“I went to high school to play baseball. I didn’t go to college. So when it’s time to find a job, now you’re going, ‘What am I qualified to do other than baseball?’” – Matt Harrington

“Desafío Perú 8 mil”
ESPN Deportes’ SportsCenter, Sunday, 11p.m.

A piece is posted on ESPNDeportes.com

ESPN Deportes’ SportsCenter will air a special report on “Desafío Perú 8 mil,” an extreme sports challenge in which 12 teams must traverse 240 km of Peruvian desert and ray-fish and jellyfish infested South Pacific icy cold waters. ESPN Deportes captured the grueling three-day competition, recording the ordeals and testing circumstances faced by the competitors.

Lenny Dykstra, the former Major League center fielder referred to as “Nails” by adoring Mets and Phillies fans, is trying to create a high-finance lifestyle for the rich and famous.

Excerpts from Mike Fish’s piece:
“He’s slumped behind a desk, looking frumpy in a sweater vest and tan cap. Tonight, he is living the life of an entrepreneur, pushing to get out the next issue of his glossy athletes-only magazine while he sneaks peeks at the financial news and stock charts on a bank of three super-sized computer screens behind him… Without being asked, the self-styled investment master — who, at this moment, is up to his thick neck in lawsuits — volunteers that he’s worth $60 million…his life beyond baseball includes acquisitions such as hockey legend Wayne Gretzky’s old house (“the best house in the world,” Dykstra says) in Thousand Oaks, Calif., which he bought for $18.5 million…CNBC personality Jim “Mad Money” Cramer hypes him as a stock guru. On an investment Web site co-founded by Cramer, subscribers drop $999.95 a year to get Dykstra’s options picks.”