I swear I'm a fan, not a stalker.

I have only attended one game at St. Norbert’s Schneider Stadium. It was Saturday, September 10^th, 2011. I had biked up to school to surprise my friends with my presence. It totally worked. I was somewhat excited to be at this game seeing as it was against Beloit College. I was born in Beloit, grew up across Church Street (700 block) from the campus; a campus where my dad had taught and my mom had graduated from, a school my oldest brother decided to attend and eventually graduated from. I reveled in their successes, even when it came against my own school. On this particular hot, sunny day, I walked into the stadium in a Nike Prefontaine track singlet sporting black knickers held up with purple suspenders. I sat down and prepared to watch what I figured would be an entertaining game. Though the Green Knights blew out the Buccaneers to the tune of 30-14 (30-0 during the 4^th Quarter), and the team finished with minus-19 yards rushing, and the quarterback got sacked 7 times and intercepted, I was dazzled by the incredible display of athleticism from a consistently double covered wide receiver. He reeled in 10 catches of 26 total completions for 180 of the teams 290 yards, as well as both team TDs. He was big, fast, and sure handed. On a team that had a QB tandem that completed less than 53% of their passes this season for 15 TDs and 15 INTs, and 2380 yards, this receiver caught 75 balls for 12 touchdowns and 1250 yards. His name is Derek Carrier.

I didn’t think much about his future, but I do remember his performance against our team. He was the only passing threat. The next closest guy had 26 receptions for 276 yards and no touchdowns. I thought every now and then of how well he performed in DIII ball, and thought it a shame that this 6’5’’ 240lbs guy was probably done.

Earlier today, I was reading on NFL.com and found an article about the Wisconsin Badgers Pro Day. The last name on the list was a guy named Derek Carrier who ran a 4.5 40, a 38’’ vert, a 122’’ broad jump, 4.09 20 yard shuttle, and a 6.7 3 cone drill and put up 15 reps of 225 on the bench press. To put that in perspective, of all the wide receivers to attend the NFL combine, Carrier would have ranked 4^th in the shuttle, 6^th in the 3-cone, and in the top 10 in broad jump, vertical, and 15^th in the 40 yard dash. That is impressive, considering the average size for an NFL  wide receiver is 6’1’’ and 205 lbs (compliments of Sports Science), and the average 40 yard dash for a receiver coming out of college is 4.53. I would say that we have a guy with talent and a lot of potential and room for growth coming out of a school known better for girls not wearing bras than anything athletic related (aside from having a men’s swim team that included a pair of bouncy, flabby brothers that was rather record setting in their day. They are the most unathletic looking pure athletes ever). Coaches kept him moving sending him out wide both right and left, as well as moving him into the slot to confuse the defense and create mismatches, so he has experience in every position. 

In addition, a former class mate describes him as  "smart, funny, modest." He's also pulling in a 3.8 in Health and Society at competitive and challenging institution of learning.

Now I’m not saying he’s going to get drafted in the 2^nd round, but come round 5 or 6, if he’s around, as a Packers Stock holder, I’m calling for his name.