Over 100 million TV viewers will watch wide receiver Eric Decker on Sunday in the Super Bowl when his team, the Broncos, plays the Seahawks at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Competing on football’s biggest stage is something that seemed unlikely when Decker was catching passes for ROCORI High School in Cold Spring, Minnesota, a town of about 4,294 located near St. Cloud.
Decker had 1,288 receiving yards last season for the Broncos, ranking 12th in the NFL. He had 1,017 as a high school senior at ROCORI High where he did attract enough attention to make the Associated Press all-state team.
But Decker wasn’t exactly pestered by college recruiters during his senior year in Cold Spring. “I knew when we recruited him he was good but no one else was recruiting him,” former Gophers coach Glen Mason told Sports Headliners.
Well, not exactly no one. Division III Saint John’s was excited about having Decker play in Collegeville. After Decker accepted the Gophers’ scholarship offer, Johnnies coach John Gagliardi called Mason and said, “Darn you.”
Mason recalled Gagliardi thought he had a “great one” that no one knew about. “He (Decker) was just a big, good looking athlete who ran and caught the ball,” Mason said.
Despite injuries Decker became one of the best wide receivers in Gophers history, showing speed and extraordinary ability to make difficult catches while playing with courage. In the 2010 NFL draft the Broncos selected Decker in the third round.
Decker is now a focal point in the Broncos’ offense as a starter catching 13 touchdown passes during the 2012 season and 11 last season. With iconic quarterback Peyton Manning, the Broncos led the NFL in passing and total offense yardage per game during the past regular season.
Mason, who attended Decker’s wedding last summer to country music performer Jessie James, texted congratulations to his former wide receiver after the Broncos qualified for the Super Bowl. Mason predicted a Broncos win in the game on Sunday and said Decker told him Manning is “just a complete professional.”
The same could be said about Decker who has long been known for his attitude and work ethic. That’s part of the formula of how you go from Cold Spring to the Super Bowl.
Worth Noting
Decker played part of his Gophers career for Tim Brewster who succeeded Mason as coach after the 2006 season. Brewster is an assistant coach on the Florida State team that won the national championship earlier this month. Now Decker has an opportunity to win a Super Bowl.
Decker reportedly accepted a contract extension in December worth $39.62 million over five years.
John Schneider, a 1994 St. Thomas alum, is the Seahawks general manager and regarded as one of the NFL’s top executives. He and Seahawks coach Pete Caroll, a Vikings assistant coach from 1985-1989, have been praised for their work in the NFL draft.
Cordarrelle Patterson, the Vikings rookie last season who was named an all-pro kick returner by Associated Press, would be taken No. 8 in the 2013 NFL draft, according to a draft “re-do” posted by S.I.com’s Don Banks last Thursday. Patterson was chosen at No. 29 in the first round by the Vikings.
In 2014 the Vikings have the No. 8 pick in the first round of the draft. Among names drawing speculation are UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr, and two quarterbacks, Central Florida’s Blake Bortles and Fresno State’s Derek Carr. Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater is another quarterback who might be available.
The Gophers’ Ra’Shede Hageman was asked to play defensive end in Saturday’s Senior Bowl. Giovan Jenkins, the Washburn High School coach who talked with Hageman last weekend, said scouts are telling Hageman he needs to be “interchangeable,” meaning he could play end or tackle for a pro team.
Gophers football coach Jerry Kill said on WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” yesterday morning that his two walk-on junior college transfer fullbacks, Miles Thomas and Riley Oharah, have impressed with their toughness since coming to Minnesota this month. Both are from Butler Community College in Kansas.
Cross their fingers, the Gophers are hoping combo guard Andre Hollins will be able to play soon after injuring his left ankle against Wisconsin last week. The Gophers, after losing 82-78 at Nebraska last night, don’t play again until Saturday at Williams Arena against Northwestern.
Without Hollins, their best player, the Gophers had no one step forward in a big way last night except shooting guard Malik Smith who scored 18 points in the first half and finished with 29, mostly from three pointers. Point guard DeAndre Mathieu, who was exceptional in leading the upset over the Badgers, had nine turnovers last night and sat for much of the first half with two fouls. He was ineffective against Nebraska’s double teams. The Gophers, now 4-4 in the Big Ten, were mostly a one-man effort against the mediocre Cornhuskers, 2-5.
Twins president Dave St. Peter said the organization expects to renew about 85 percent of its season tickets for a total of more than 17,000. The club sold more than 20,000 season tickets in earlier seasons at Target Field but disappointing play on the field has impacted interest, although St. Peter predicted the team is headed for a turnaround.
FOX Sports North will televise all 16 Twins spring training games from Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers starting with the March 1 game against the Red Sox.
Former second baseman and 1991 Rookie of the Year Chuck Knoblauch will be inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame on August 23 at Target Field when the Twins play the Tigers. He didn’t endear himself to many Twins fans after leaving for the Yankees so expect a reserved but polite welcome on August 23.
Ex-WCCO TV news anchor and sports fan Don Shelby will be the speaker for the University of St. Thomas First Friday Speaker Series on March 7. More information about the luncheon is available by calling the St. Thomas Alumni Association, 651-962-6430.