Huskies lineman fulfills boyhood dream

Kyle Kuzek had the scoop and Pat Neufeld’s mother supplied the confirmation.

Neufeld, an offensive tackle, was on the field midway through Sunday’s University of Saskatchewan Huskies’ football spring camp when teammate Kuzek told him he’d just been drafted by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

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“Then I looked around and my mom was dancing up in the crowd, so I assumed I’d been picked,” the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Neufeld said after Sunday’s workout had ended.

Neufeld was the second Huskie selected in Sunday’s CFL draft. Cornerback and kicker Grant Shaw, who wasn’t at the workout, went to the Toronto Argos in the second round, 11th overall.

Only three Huskies have been drafted higher than Shaw — safety Dylan Barker (first overall to Hamilton in 2008), slotback Dan Farthing (second overall to Saskatchewan in 1991) and receiver Nathan Hoffart (seventh overall to Saskatchewan in 2005).

Saskatchewan picked Neufeld in the fifth round, 33rd overall. A few minutes after his selection, he ran over to his mother, who was holding his cellphone, and received congratulations from agent Dan Vertlieb while spectators applauded.

“My mind went blank,” says Neufeld, who grew up in Regina and didn’t play organized football until Grade 11. “Then I was ‘wow; the Saskatchewan Roughriders; this is a dream come true.’ I really didn’t how to react. I was ecstatic, I was shocked, I was happy. A range of emotions.”

Neufeld joined the Huskies as a defensive lineman and moved to the offensive line after redshirting in 2006. He’s obviously glad the coaches made that decision.

“I loved playing D-line, because you could go out there and smash people,” Neufeld said. “Coming to the offensive side of the ball is a lot more technique and a lot more fundamental stuff. I love it, and obviously, I’m happy we made that decision.”

Scouts say Neufeld needs to build up his physical strength. He has two years of eligibility remaining with the Huskies, so there’s no immediate urgency to crack their roster this summer.

“It’ll be good to go into training camp and get a feel for what the CFL’s like, then maybe go back to school and keep working out,” Neufeld said. “I’ve talked to our coaches about that, but it all depends on training camp, how well I do there and what they want.”

“Realistically,” Roughriders’ general manager Brendan Taman told Murray McCormick of the Regina Leader-Post, “he could go back to school for another year and have a pretty good chance to make our team. He will come to camp and have a good experience.”

The Huskies don’t expect Shaw — who earned second-team all-Canadian status at cornerback last season while making 25 of 31 field-goal attempts — to return in 2010.

Huskies’ tailback Dathan Thomas was also a potential draft pick, but nobody called his name. Thomas missed all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL, MCL and LCL but looked good at this weekend’s spring camp.

Kevin Mitchell
The StarPhoenix

courtesy of www.thestarphoenix.com