Dylan Hatajik is well on his way to becoming a dentist. But before that, he aspired to be a college athlete.

A 2018 East Lyme High School graduate, Hatajik is a senior wide receiver on the Georgetown University football team, which competes in the Patriot League at the Football Championship Subdivision level. As a Division I athlete, that makes him eligible, according to an NCAA policy enacted this summer, to capitalize on his name, image and likeness.

Hatajik recently seized an opportunity to do just that, contracting with the digital media company Barstool Sports to become a "Barstool Athlete," a small dent on the name, image and likeness scale that has exploded nationally but a dent, nonetheless.

"When the NCAA changed the rule on name, image and likeness, Georgetown football, we're FCS," Hatajik said. "We're not the biggest program in the country. We don't have these huge opportunities. We're not going to be getting those contracts. I wanted to be a part of that community however possible."

The Barstool Athlete distinction doesn't come with monetary compensation. Hatajik will receive a shipment of Barstool Sports merchandise in exchange for identifying himself as a Barstool Athlete on his social media pages.

Hatajik was at the library doing his homework when he received his acceptance to the program via a notification which said "Barstool Athletics has tagged you in a photo." That meant that 185,000 Instagram followers and 40,000 Twitter followers of the Barstool Sports branch highlighting collegiate athletes saw Hatajik's photograph in his blue No. 84 Georgetown uniform.

"Oh, yeah. I was super excited," Hatajik said Thursday via Zoom video conference, adding that he has taken some ribbing from his girlfriend about being "famous." "As a Division I athlete, we've been talking about this for years about how student-athletes should be able to make money. It's cool to see all these colleges start being able to capitalize."

'There's nothing else like it'

Hatajik has never caught a pass at Georgetown, with the Hoyas missing the 2020 season due to COVID-19. Hatajik spent from March of 2020 until midsummer this year back in East Lyme, taking classes online and shadowing different dentists in southeastern Connecticut in preparation for taking his Dental Admissions Test (DAT), the dental school equivalent of the GRE prior to attending grad school.

Hatajik has played in both games for the Hoyas (1-1) this season and competed in three career games. Georgetown visits Columbia at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Previously East Lyme's quarterback, Hatajik switched to receiver as a senior and earned All-Eastern Connecticut Conference honors, was selected to The Day's All-Area Football Team and led the Vikings to a 7-3 record. He was the 2017 Class MM 100-meter champion in outdoor track and was named The Day's 2018 All-Area Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year after winning the Class M title in the 55-meter dash and finishing second in the State Open 300.

"Thirty-five pounds ago," Hatajik said with a laugh of the photo that accompanied his Player of the Year honor.

He was fast, certainly, running the 55 in 6.59 seconds. But his heart always belonged to football.

"I started playing football when I was 11 years old. My dad played football in college and I wanted to be like my dad," Hatajik said. "I love football always. It just comes down to love of the game. There's nothing I'd rather be playing than football.

"I don't even know how to describe it. The teamwork is unmatched. There's nothing else like it. The bond you form, you're relying on each other all the time. Comparing it to track or something, track is just athletic. You train, you run your 100 meters and you're done. In football you train and then you apply it to something."

A lot to learn

When Hatajik first arrived at Georgetown — he was recruited heavily by several other Division I programs, including Brown and Princeton — he admittedly wasn't ready. He was relatively skinny, relatively new to the position and had several conflicts with his schoolwork. He called himself "lost."

"Going from East Lyme, Connecticut, Connecticut is not really known for its strength of football rigor," he said. "When I got to Georgetown, we have guys from Texas, Florida, all those power states that have crazy football programs. I was a standout player at East Lyme; that's what got me the looks.

"Everybody here was a standout player. I had a lot to learn."

Hatajik is now listed at 6-foot-3, 208 pounds. He took the field late in the game for the Hoyas in Saturday's loss to Harvard and wasn't targeted for any passes, but unhesitatingly blocked for his teammates. He's also willing to lead by example and answer questions for his younger teammates, so they're not as disoriented as he once was.

"As a senior now, I feel like I'm capable of providing for the team," he said. "If they need something, I'm ready to go. ... I might not be the guy catching 150 yards per game but that's not my decision."

On Hatajik's longest day of the week, Wednesdays, he attends football meetings from 7:30-9 a.m., football practice from 9-11:15 and class from 12:30 through to 7:45 p.m. with a couple short breaks in between. His toughest class right now is mammalian physiology.

In all, though, he wouldn't trade his trek to Georgetown. His favorite part of the Washington, D.C., school?

"If you're talking about football, it's the friendships I've made and the experiences I've had. I've met my best friends here. I can't put that second," Hatajik said. "If you're talking academics and personal life, Georgetown has set me up to go where I want to go career-wise. I've been prepared left and right."

And his favorite part of Barstool Sports?

"Actually my favorite thing Barstool does is the pizza reviews," Hatajik said with a laugh, referring to the critiques of Barstool founder Dave Portnoy. "If I consume any content it would be his pizza reviews first. ... They have the reputation of (captivating) the college crowd with content."

v.fulkerson@theday.com