THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008
Goin' Pro
Journal-Area's Rashard Mendenhall, Tom Zbikowski Get Call To The NFL
By DWIGHT ESAU
Journal Sports
From Skokie to Champaign to Pittsburgh - this is the football journey of Niles West's Rashard Mendenhall.
At 4:45 p.m. Saturday (Apr. 26), he became the first Journal-area high school football player to be a first-round draft choice in the National Football League in 35 years, when the Pittsburgh Steelers made him the 23rd pick.
The other Journal-area player selected last weekend was safety-returner Tom Zbikowski of Buffalo Grove and Notre Dame University. He was picked by the Baltimore Ravens in the third round.
The last area first round NFL selection was Dave Butz of Maine South and Purdue University in 1973.
Mendenhall had expected to be drafted earlier, since many ESPN analysts and pro scouts tabbed him as one of the top ten players in this year's draft. While broadcasters and scouts sang his praises, however, NFL decision-makers remained skeptical, selecting three other running backs - Darren McFadden and Felix Jones of Arkansas and Jonathan Stewart of Oregon, before the Steelers opted for Rashard.
Mendenhall had to wait nearly three hours before he was picked. He was rumored to go as high as ninth, and there also was some speculation that the Chicago Bears would select him with their 14th pick, possibly because of poor rushing production in the 2007 season, plus offensive coordinator Ron Turner's connection with the University of Illinois. Turner recruited Mendenhall to Illinois from Niles West in 2004. However, the Bears opted to shore up their offensive line in round one when they selected tackle Chris Williams of Vanderbilt.
At Pittsburgh, Mendenhall will probably compete for rushing reps with veteran, 27-year-old Willie Parker, who has run for more than 4,000 yards and scored 23 touchdowns over the last three seasons for the Steelers.
Mendenhall owns virtually all rushing and some pass-receiving records at Niles West, where he played on the varsity in the 2002, 2003, and 2004 seasons.
* He ran for 4,511 career yards in 439 attempts, and scored 46 touchdowns.
* He caught 50 career passes for 976 yards and 12 touchdowns.
His best rushing season in high school was his junior one in 2003, when he ran for 1,832 yards and scored 19 TDs. His best pass catching year was in 2002, when he grabbed 30 tosses for 524 yards and 6 TDs.
His best single-game performance was in the 2004 season against Deerfield, when he rambled 30 times for 326 yards and 3 TDs.
At Illinois, he tied for 28th in the nation in scoring in his senior season in 2007, and ranked 17th nationally in rushing. He was fifth in the Big Ten in scoring and fourth in rushing. In his junior (and final) season, he ran for 1,681 yards and scored 17 TDs. He caught 34 passes for 318 yards and 2 TDs. His 1,999 all-purpose yards ranked him fifth in the Big Ten and 33rd nationally.
Also at Illinois, he won all-academic honors.
He capped off his collegiate career with 155 yards rushing in the Rose Bowl, including a 79-yard TD run. Shortly thereafter, he announced he would head to the NFL.
Size-wise, he somewhat resembles Bears legend Walter Payton. Rashard is 5-11 and 224 pounds, compared to Payton's 5-10 and 210.
His high school coach was Mark Egofske, who now teaches and coaches at Niles North. Egofske joined many of Mendenhall's friends and family at the House of Blues in Chicago to watch the draft on TV last Saturday.
"My best memory of him is that he always put the team first, and he never forgot that academics were his top priority," Egofske said. "He also is an outstanding person and is extremely coachable and disciplined."
Egofske was among about 50 friends, former teammates, and family members at the House of Blues in Chicago. "I said hello and we talked about a lot of things besides football," Egofske said.
"I believe he was a bit disappointed that several other running backs were picked before him. He believes he's the best, but that's just the 'chip on your shoulder' confidence he has. Pittsburgh is an ideal place for him, he and his family are excited, and it will be a chance for him to make a whole lot of new friends."