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Exclusive: Dave Syvertsen of Ourlads on the NFL draft

First, tell me a bit about Ourlads for the readers.

Ourlads is the oldest draft guide – it was around before guys like Mel Kiper and Todd McShay. If you watch the draft you’ll see our guides on the tables of the commentators.

We track all the information about the players and NFL transactions as well. Dan Shonka has been there as the GM for more than 20 years now. Ourlads really has been the founding father of the draft you can say.

And how did you get involved?

In college I wanted to get into scouting. I interviewed with Dave Gettleman when he was the Director of Pro Personnel but didn’t get the internship. So I put on my big boy pants and got a job in finance, but I did some free work – sending out my scouting reports to folks and even drove myself to the combine in 2010.

In 2012 Dan Shonka reached out to me and asked if I wanted to work for free for him on his college depth charts. It was grunt work – keying data on players – jersey numbers, weight and measurement changes, stuff like that. I think it was just a test he gave everyone to see if you could handle the grunt work.

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Exclusive with Steelers Wide Receiver Cody White

First, what are your offseason plans?

I’m just taking a month or so off after the season is over to let my body recover from the season. I’ll go and train in Florida after that with Mo Wells and Jordan Bush at Brandon Marshall’s facility “The House of Athletes.” I’ll work on strength and speed training there and get ready for OTAs.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Lineman Ben Thomas, 1988

First, tell me about your job at Auburn and how you got started in that work?

Right now I’m the Director of Facilities at Auburn – I manage the basketball arena’s day-to-day operations. I make sure all necessary repairs are done and it’s kept up-to-date. I also coordinate all of the events -we have volleyball and gymnastics in the arena and rent it out for weddings, parties, banquets….that sort of thing.

So a football guy manages a basketball arena? How does that happen?

Well, I came back to Auburn in ’97 to work on campus. In 2013 the new coaching staff came in and brought in their own guys. But I worked for the school on the administrative side, not for the coaches, so I was able to stay. The guy who used to manage the arena passed away – that’s when they approached me to run the arena since I knew the school. I was happy to do it.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Lineman Ben Thomas, 1988”

Exclusive with Former Steelers Running Back Bobby Smith, 1966

First, can you let me know what you started doing after your time in football?

I went to work and got my degree after I was done playing. I got my Masters and coached for one year at Prairie View A&M but I didn’t like that much.

I went back home to Corpus Christi and worked for the school district there in administration. I started up a program to work with drop outs. I also had a food service business on the side but that got too big. Real big. So I got out of that and opened up a few IHOPS and got tired of that after a while.

Now my wife and I have our own smaller business. I’m real close to the church and raised five kids. All five have graduated from schools and work around the country. I’ve been blessed.

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Exclusive with former Steelers Defensive Lineman Kenny Davidson, 1990-1993

First, can you let me know what you’ve been doing since your time in the NFL?

Since I’ve been out of football, I got involved in investment banking, helping small to mid-sized companies go public. I’ve also done some coaching for my son’s little league team. He’s 16 now – so I’m also enjoying being a dad.

We’re all dealing with Corona – my wife is a speech pathologist and she and my son are online a lot right now doing virtual learning. So I’m helping out all I can with that too.

Continue reading “Exclusive with former Steelers Defensive Lineman Kenny Davidson, 1990-1993”

Exclusive with Former Steelers Wide Receiver Ricky Martin, 1981

First, can you let me know what you’ve been up to since your playing days?

I’m an underwriter now for the mortgage industry. I’ve been doing that pretty much since I’ve been out of football. My first few years I was in loan processing and then dabbled as a loan officer before getting into underwriting.

I also coached high school football at a local high school here from 2008 to 2018. I was the offensive coordinator and worked with the wide receivers and quarterbacks there at Channel Islands High School. In fact one of my players, Jeremiah Valoaga, made it to the NFL

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Exclusive with Ed Reynolds NFL Legends Community Director of the Northeast Region

Can you let me know how you got involved with the NFL front office initially?

I was retired for three years when a former teammate recommended me for a job there with Gene Washington in the league front office. He was working on game operations and needed an assistant director. I interviewed for that job and started working for him.

One of my main tasks was to work with teams on uniform code violations, and we launched the high school coach of the week program. We also started a college relations program where we’d go to the colleges and talk to the athletic directors to see what they’d like us to talk to their athletes about. Gambling, drinking…there were a myriad of things we could talk about that were relevant to their schools. We wanted to help show colleges that we weren’t interested in taking kids away from college. Our rule is unique in that you have to be three years out of high school before you can sign with an NFL team. Three years is a long time – you really have to go to college to play.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Tight End Vance McDonald, 2017-2020

First, let me know what you’ve been up to since retirement – I know Hidden Meadow Retreat is a big focus.

Yeah. The retreat was always a big focus since I thought about what I would do post-football. In 2017 my wife and I started praying and asking God how to use us. I knew football was a means to an end – it wouldn’t last forever. When football ended I didn’t just want to sit around and be a consumer. I wanted to give back in a unique way.

I thought about it – reflected and prayed on it. I realized after speaking to pastors and Christian leaders that they were getting burned out. There are so many incredible people doing great things but they weren’t getting enough support.

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Exclusive with Steelers Defensive Lineman Montravius Adams

First off, what’s the offseason plan for you?

Honestly, I just hope to be up in Pittsburgh most of the time during the offseason. It depends on the next couple of steps with the contract discussions. Just some little things. Hopefully it all goes well and is done soon.

I just expect to be working out with Cam, TJ, Tyson and those guys. Working with all of them hopefully.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Wide Receiver Stahle’ Vincent, 1972-1973

First, can you let me know what you’ve been up to since your playing days?

After football, I went into business with my brother and another partner – we had two men’s retail clothing stores. But I soon realized that just wasn’t for me.

I wrote to Rawlings Sporting Goods – they had just launched a management training program so my timing was good. They hired me and I became a sales manager in the DC area, working with wholesalers, calling on colleges, pro teams and high schools. I ran into a lot of guys I played with and against in college and the NFL there.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Wide Receiver Stahle’ Vincent, 1972-1973”