Andrew Verboncouer certainly made the most of his opportunity when Winona State played Minnesota State-Mankato on national TV earlier this year. His line in the game was 5 carries for 31 yards and 4 TDs.

The 5'9.5", 240-pound FB runs in the 4.6s on occasion, has put up 27 reps in the past, and put up 19 rushing TDs and a receiving TD in 2008. Those triangle numbers compare favorably with those of almost any FB in this draft. Andrew is trying to get into a major school's pro day as of this writing and is in our list of the Top 17 FBs for the 2009 NFL draft and certainly deserves that opportunity.

Let me welcome Andrew to CDS and start things off here in his own forum with a question:

Andrew, I know you traveled kind of a rocky road to even get to play college football. Can you describe how you went about getting to where you are now?

Welcome to CDS Andrew. How are your lead blocking skills? You have great triangle numbers. Perfect size for a lead blocking FB.

Thanks for the great introduction. To correct the stat-line for the Mankato game, it was 6 carries for 41 yards and 4 TDs.

Now on to answer your initial question:
I've always been a firm believer in a simple quote when it comes to success, one that I'm sure you've heard; Success is when Preparation meets Opportunity.

I've been blessed with strong family support both in my parents as well as my brother. They've helped me in many ways throughout my football career, both high school and college, that has put me in a position to prepare. Their support - (along with a few other people of course), as well as my own personal goals has pushed me to keep working hard and always keep my head up. I'm a very goal-oriented person so I set short term and long term goals in everything, and I work hard to achieve them. I believe that with hard work, dedication, and perseverance, anything is possible, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes.

Its always been my dream to play in the NFL, and so I've always held that goal in mind as my long-term goal throughout college.

To sum it up, it took me lots of hard work, lots of perseverance, as well as lots of gritting my teeth when people told me I couldn't do something or told me quite frankly "NO", it just made me work harder - and still does. Looking back, I've started as somewhat of an underdog at both the high school and college levels.

Thanks, glad to be here!

In 2007 I was primarily a lead-blocker, that year our RB, who totaled near 1500 yards.

I think they are pretty good, but of course I can always improve. There are some clips on my tape (http://www.verboncouer33.com) near the end from the 2007 season lead-blocking.

Thanks for your reply, Andrew, but I want to hear more about the whole trial you went through not gettin recruited, ect....not playing until your senior year in H.S., etc. How did you manage to overcome all of that? What made football so important to you?

Hey Andrew, quick question. Did you get approached with any D1 transfer offers throughout your time at Winona, and if so, why did you turn them down?

@PatriotofMaine:
Well, I've played organized football since 6th grade. I played RB/FB freshman year of highschool, and then I was played out of position soph and junior year, and then senior year I finally played RB/FB which I feel is my best position. I put a lot of work in to get that far, and I love the game, so I wanted to keep playing wherever I could. My senior year we had very diminishing numbers (27 - very low for a DII highschool team), and we finished up 2-7 on the year. I was recruited by only a couple D3 schools from the WIAC, but my cousin Nate Hall was playing football at Winona State at that time so I gave him a tape when he was home for thanksgiving break. My options were down to Eau Claire and Winona. Winona expressed some interest after they saw my tape, but then told me I could walk-on at the beginning of September when school started. I loved their campus and their business program, so that's where I decided to go. I knew that it would be a battle to land a spot, but I knew that my work ethic and ability would get me on the field.

Growing up in Green Bay and being surrounded by football was what made it important to me. My brother played, all of my cousins played; we were always driving somewhere to watch someones game. I love football because its a lot more than just a game, theres so many things that it teaches you - that'll help you throughout life: responsibility, teamwork, how to overcome, and many many others.


@krs1:
I was never given an opportunity to think about transferring, so I made the most of what I could control, and that was the effort I could put into Winona on and off the field.

Andrew, who are you working out with? Does your coaching staff had any solid contacts with schools that have pro days? Have you found an agent?

I'm working out at bellin XL performance in Green Bay, Wi (Chase Emnott is my trainer). I graduated in December so I've been working out there since. I'm not sure about their contacts with other schools but they have some contacts with a couple agents. I haven't found an agent yet but I'm still calling and contacting some trying to iron it out.

Hello Andrew, other than general strength and explosion work, what are you doing in preparation for pro day, catching the ball, blocking, trying to gain or lose weight?

Hi bcdrama,

I've been doing position drills for both RB and FB - simulating plays and cuts, flat routes out of the backfield, check downs, etc. I'm just eating clean and trying lean out a little, so I can still be able to train for strength and explosion without sacrificing performance.

One more question for you Andrew. Being from Green Bay,I'm going to go ahead and assume you are a Packer fan. If given the opportunity to play for them and be looking at a practice squad wait, or a team that is very thin at FB, who would you choose?

Since I grew up a Packer fan playing for them would be a dream come true. Most of my family and uncles have season tickets, so it would be an advantage to have that strong family backing with me in Green Bay. But on the other hand I would want to go somewhere that my probabilities of playing are greater. It would come down to the circumstances that each are in, and the pros/cons of each, so I can't really say who I would choose - it would be a really tough decision.

Andrew, are there any other prospects from schools you've played against we should be talking about?

Scanning the CDS DII prospects, I found these players from teams we played: Blake Freese LB (Minnesota State Mankato), Jim Johnson S (Minn. Duluth), Darius Davis DE - Troy Pribnow DE (Wayne State), as well as Robert Haynes DB (Michigan Tech).

First off, I want to say thank you for all the great answers.

And my question: If the NFL for some reason does not work out, would you look to play in the CFL or any other leagues, or move on to other things?

So, are you saying we nailed it perfectly, Andrew?

The NFL is my ultimate goal, so I'll do whatever it takes to get there. If that means playing in the CFL first, or maybe the UNGL, then I'd do it no question.

I'd say pretty much, no one else really pops into my mind from other teams.

Hey Andrew,

What's your max squat and power clean?

Haven't 1 rep maxed in a while, but last time i did, Squat: 510, Power Clean: 320.

So if Andrew ever finds his way back here, I would be interested in knowing how he did in his workouts.

I was on the phone with Mark Hill (Strenth and conditioning coach at the Minnesota Gophers) a couple times over the past few months and left many messages, never received a call back, and when I did talk to him I never got a straight answer whether or not I could participate in the pro-day there. Gopher Pro-Day was on the 11th of March so I drove up to Minneapolis on the 10th. I went to the field-house where they were holding the workout and tried to argue my case to Coach Hill, but he quickly said no and denied me any explanation other than "we're full." I figured it was worth the shot, and that if he was going to let me workout - it would be more likely to happen if I showed up and pleaded my case. That was last week.

I decided to test out and film all of my tests last thursday so I'll be posting that video up on my website soon as well - and sending it out with my film / highlights to all of the teams.

Here were the results:
Vertical: 33"
Broad Jump: 9'7.5"
40 Yard: 4.73
Pro-agility: 4.09
3-cone: 7.06
225: 25

Does anyone have any other advice as far as what my next steps should be? Thanks!

Andrew,

That kind of tenacity is very impressive and I have added all of this to your profile. I would say get that tape into the hands of all 32 Directors of Player Personnel.

Good luck, man. I LOVE YOUR GUTS AND DETERMINATION!

Steve

Tape yourself jumping out of a kiddie pool, seemed to work well for Jarron Gilbert.

Seriously, though. Get that tape up on your site and link it to youtube. Do some hard work getting in touch personally with every teams DOP and DOCS(or as close to them as you can, like their assistants), and spend a lot of time on the phone with teams getting contact #s or email if you can.

Andrew, keep grinding, if there are any other pro days within a reasonable distance try to get into them and use any contact your coaches might have to pro teams or other schools with scheduled workouts.

hey i played for wayne state and i like to see that some people apprciate d2 football..and people talk stuff about or conference but we had the national champs in out division we didnt even get to playem i wish we did well i like what u guys are doing,,,and ill be in the ungl league check out the site... and looking into some nfl teams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUJVItdFcYo

go look at my highlight tell me wat u think...devon613@yahoo.com

I'll be getting it up on my site this week, hopefully monday and then what do you suggest I say when I talk to this DOP / DOCs, just follow up calls on the DVDs? Thanks for the advice! I have a list of all of the teams DOCs / DOP, mailing addresses, and contact #s - so I'll be sending out the DVD with my Highlights, Game Film, and Testing video on it to all of the teams.

There's really none in the area again, I thought the only ones I was eligible for was the Wisconsin Badger pro day and the Gopher's Pro day - I'm from Green Bay, Wi and went to Winona. I've been told there are some NCAA rules as far as distance from your school / hometown.

Theres an Elite Regional Combine on May 31st in Chicago that I got an invitation for. Have you guys heard anything about it / know if theres any NFL teams that go?

Here is a link to their site: http://www.combines.com

Thanks!

Andrew

The call should be all about you showing initiative and desire to get your shot. Follow up on the DVD, and try your hardest to let them know you're the guy who wants to do every last little thing to make it. Prepare yourself a mission statement so you know exactly what your going to say, and come across exactly how you want to. Just be Andrew Verboncouer and tell them you will show up on their facilities doorstep tomorrow and camp out until they give you a shot, if that's what it takes. These guys are obviously all very busy, so be to the point and make an impression.

Just wanted to update everyone here on what my status is.

I haven't been contacted by any teams, but I'm in the process of following up with all 32 teams, expressing my interested in a tryout and / or camp participation. Nothing yet so far, but I need to call a few more tomorrow.

If nothing materializes, I'll be going to the Elite Regional Combine on May 31st in Chicago and I'm planning to put up some qualifying numbers so I can get to the Elite National Combine in Indianapolis in mid-June.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some good official numbers down and spark some interest from some teams, or 1 at least.

Hope all is well with everyone,
Thanks for all of your advice / input so far!

Andrew

Thanks for the update Andrew. I've been trying to clear my plate enough to give you and a couple other of "our guys" a call, and I appreciate you coming on and filling us in.

Who is behind this Elite Regional Combine? Do you know? Are they charging you to participate? Do you know how well this event will be attended?

Good luck, man. You are definitely going to play in SOMEBODY's league before long! You are just too darned persistent and hungry to be ignored!

Not sure who is behind it, but it seems somewhat legit. If you put up 8.5 average (out of 10) in all areas, then you qualify for the National Combine thats held at Indianapolis.

The regional one (held in chicago) is at North Central College - Benedetti-Wehril Stadium. There is a fee to participate for the regional one, but if you qualify the national combine is free. I'm not sure how well its attended, but supposedly CFL, AFL, NFL are all present.

OK, well I certainly hope you do well. Keep us posted, Andrew.

I hope they aren't charging you too much. Sounds a tad scammy to me...

Hello all, hope everything is well!

Wanted to stop in with another update on my situation.

I did attend the Chicago regional combine on May 31st but it was the first hot day this summer, and I ended up cramping during my first 40 yard dash, which was my first event. It lingered from one thing to another and was hard to shake the rest of the day - my numbers were a little low, and on pro-agility, add the cramp to the bad footing (on the shuttle) and I ended up with a 7.49 / 10 on their scale. I needed an 8.5 to qualify for an invitation to the National Combine.

I thought about it very briefly and decided that I should go to the next regional combine at Ohio State, I knew I could put up better numbers.

The regional combine at Ohio State was last sunday, the 7th. I did enough to qualify, and ended with an 8.71 / 10 on their scale.

I received my official invitation yesterday for the National ELITE combine in Indianapolis, at Lucas Oil Stadium! We arrive on friday and start with a meeting and weigh-in, then saturday we go to Lucas Oil and do the 40, broad jump, and 3-cone drills, as well as 'extensive' position drills.

There are supposed to be a good amount of NFL teams that will be represented there, (in past, I've heard 15-20 teams), as well as some CFL and some AFL teams.

My numbers from the Ohio State testing were:

40 - 4.71
Pro-Agility - 4.17
Vert - 34.5"
225 Bench - 25 reps

They gave us a video (to everyone who had 8.0 or higher), and I have it on the new page that was just put together, it's the video on the right. It has the 40, short shuttles, and position drills.

I can't wait to get to Indy and get in front of some scouts. It says theres potential for private interviews if teams are interested. This is a great opportunity for me!

I hope all is well with you!

Take care,

Andrew

Sounds great! Keep working hard and you'll make it.

Andrew, have any UFL or CFL teams seen your tape?