Pro day propelled three Minnesota hopefuls into shots at NFL rosters

The most important step in some long-dormant football careers was not a game or even a practice.

The University of Minnesota's football pro day in March gave the state's Division II and Division III stars who didn't get NFL tryouts last spring during the pandemic a chance to show what they could do after more than a year away from college football.

Former St. Thomas receiver Nick Guggemos hadn't played since 2018. Minnesota State Mankato star receiver Shane Zylstra and former St. John's quarterback Jackson Erdmann last suited up in 2019. But they kept training and finally found themselves throwing, catching and running drills in front of NFL scouts.

"That was a huge moment for us," Guggemos said. "It was something I wasn't sure I was ever going to get. But I knew if I wanted to have a shot in the pros, it was my best shot. I was able to get requested by a few teams and once I got there, I crushed the workout and put up some very good combine numbers."

One shot was all Guggemos and Zylstra, former college receivers turned NFL tight ends, needed to land with the Seahawks and Vikings as undrafted free agents. Erdmann, their training partner who had led D-III with 5,040 passing yards, hit another roadblock after not getting a tryout spot.

"I was excited because I had some interest, especially at the pro day," Erdmann said. "But the NFL dropped the bomb where there are only five [tryout] players allowed who aren't signed or picked up, so that was super disheartening."

Guggemos said he emerged from the U's pro day with a dozen NFL teams interested in the guy who recently spent about 18 months working as a manufacturing engineer at a medical device company.

The St. Thomas mechanical engineering graduate put Seattle atop his list, because his father, Neal, a former Vikings kick returner, played for Seahawks coach Pete Carroll for two seasons in 1986-1987 when Carroll was Minnesota's defensive backs coach. The Seahawks also have more openings at tight end, and it didn't hurt that General Manager John Schneider is also a Tommies alum.

"I was wearing a St. Thomas sweatshirt," Guggemos said of his first meeting with Schneider. "He liked that."

After going undrafted in 2019 before the doors shut last year, he trained six days a week on his own between work shifts. He then got invited to a combine training center in Florida, where he spent the winter working out alongside players such as Titans first-round cornerback Caleb Farley and Vikings fifth-round tight end Zach Davidson.

The work, and advice from his NFL veteran father, paid dividends as Guggemos has made two strong impressions — in front of scouts at the pro day, and then at his first outing at Seahawks rookie camp last weekend, when he was named the practice player of the day by coaches.

"I certainly had my doubts," said Guggemos, now a 25-year-old NFL rookie, "but I just tried to stay positive and just keep training anyway. I had to give football another shot because it's my dream."

A former standout Mankato receiver from small-town Minnesota signing with the Vikings is something many fans have heard before.

Asked about his new teammate Adam Thielen, Zylstra said: "It's humbling. He's a phenomenal player coming from kind of a similar story."

Zylstra drew inspiration from his family in Spicer, Minn.: older brother Brandon came out of Concordia (Moorhead) and caught the NFL's eye after leading the Canadian Football League in receiving yards in 2017. A former Viking, Brandon is entering his fourth season with the Carolina Panthers.

Shane Zylstra signed with the Vikings this month and is trying to convert to tight end after leading Division II with 1,676 receiving yards for Minnesota State Mankato in 2019.

"It's not the conventional path either one of us took, but it's motivating," Shane said. "It's just cool to see that he made it out from where he did, because there's talent on every level. It's just [teams] got to go find it and we got to go get the opportunity."

After pro days and tryouts were canceled in 2020, Zylstra stayed instate to train with Brandon and eavesdrop on his brother's virtual NFL meetings. He filled fall days with workouts at Training Haus, on the Vikings' sprawling Eagan campus, where he would return after the team signed him as a tight end after the draft.

Erdmann is still waiting for his next opportunity. His agency has been in talks with Edmonton of the Canadian Football League about scheduling a private workout and possible signing.

The past year has proved his desire to stay in football. The former Johnnies quarterback from Rosemount went to San Antonio this fall to play in the Spring League, and then to an Atlanta suburb to join the startup Fan Controlled Football League, which is exactly what it sounds like.

"It's essentially an in-person Madden," Erdmann said. "We're the avatars in real life playing. Lot of changes. It was Arena football: smaller field, smaller scale, different rules, fewer guys, that was a huge difference for me. Then you add on the fans calling the plays and you're like, what?"

There wasn't much practice time or much game-planning. Erdmann went as far as to steer fans on social media toward plays that worked in practices and which plays to avoid. But they kept running the quarterback, which eventually led to Erdmann's separated shoulder.

"It was a read-option play," he said, "and they tweeted at me after the game and said, 'Sorry we called the play but didn't mean to, that one was an accident,' or something like that. It was funny."

He's back in control of his football life. Erdmann trains in the afternoons with GameFace, which operates from the Vikings' old headquarters in Eden Prairie, after working morning shifts as a soil engineer at his uncle's company in Bloomington.

"I hate being told no, you don't got it," Erdmann said. "I appreciate the positive feedback and draw off the negative feedback."

"I'm waiting for that opportunity," he added, "because in a sense I haven't really had one except for the pro day. I'm just hoping for that and ready to show everyone what I can do."