We'll Raise Our Voices High

For most of the fall the attention on college football is focused on the schools with several thousand students, not always remembering that there is legitimate talent at the lower levels... even NFL-caliber talent. For someone like me who has spent 5 years paying attention to a North Central team run the gauntlet of the CCIW, I've seen some very talented teams with some exceptional athletes. I remember a 2010 game where I saw scouts from a couple teams (the Jets and I don't remember who else) come to see us in action.

Last year I was hopeful that defensive beast Matt Wenger would get a call to join an NFL roster, dreams that sadly went unfulfilled. But I remember seeing a tweet in the fall from Mel Kiper of all people touting some underrated players, including NCC's Kyle Fiedorowicz.

I did some digging today to look into North Central's history regarding the NFL, and it's not very extensive. In all, there have been 4 players that spent at least part of their college careers in Naperville, and most of their NFL careers were short. Historically:

• Ron Selesky (1987): Center. Played 2 NFL games.
• Levert Carr (1969-73): OL/DL. Played 55 NFL games, starting all 14 games for Buffalo in 1971.
• Jim Avery (1966, also attended Northern Illinois): Tight end. Played 1 NFL game.
• Bus Mertes (1945-48?, also attended Iowa): Multiple positions. Ran for 1277 yards and 6 touchdowns, caught 19 passes for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Not an illustrious list by any means, but there's some history there. And for Kyle Fiedorowicz, he may have a chance to contribute to an NFL team, being invited to the New Orleans Saints' rookie minicamp.

Looking at the unofficial depth chart for the Saints, there are only 2 tight ends, and David Thomas is a decent #2 guy behind this Jimmy Graham fellow. If there's an open roster spot, I don't think it's beyond reason to think the Kyle could make the squad. The Saints play 5 preseason games including the Hall of Fame game, so there's certainly opportunities for Kyle to showcase what he can do. I know the Saints mainly spread it out with Drew Brees, but they may have to consider splitting guys out, especially if you put Kyle and Jimmy Graham out there at the same time. Graham by himself is a matchup nightmare, but at 6'6", Kyle himself is hard to miss either. He could slip through some cracks in the defense, and he has decent speed (can run a sub-5 second 40, officially his best time was a 4.88). I remember a game in 2010 against Millikin where he slipped behind the defense, caught a pass, and was gone, prompting an excited "Kyle Fiedorowicz to the house!" call from me on WONC (go to the 1:03:30 mark for the call). In that pass-happy attack, he could potentially thrive.

Say what you will about the Saints following the bounty scandal. I'm a Packers fan, so I fear and respect the Saints as a rival NFC contender. But I will try to pay attention to their games this season and pull for a talented kid from a D-III school to put Naperville on the map again. Good luck Kyle!