Before I got into writing, I was a teacher. I spent seven years in education, the first three of which were in Lena, Wisconsin, a small town about a half hour's drive north of Green Bay.

I was the school's varsity track coach in 2005 and 2006, and probably the best all-around athlete I ever had the pleasure of working with is now graduating college and seeking a route into the realm of professional football.

His name is Rob Huberty (No. 30 above). After high school, he went onto play four years as a linebacker for the University of Minnesota-Duluth, a member of NCAA's Division II. But that part of his life's journey is ending and his search to find the path and the gate to the NFL is just beginning.

As a small-school football player, it's not easy getting noticed by scouts. His games aren't nationally televised every Saturday during the fall. But Huberty is talented, the type of guy who's flying under the radar.

Don't get me wrong, I'm exceedingly biased as I write this. I consider Rob a friend and wish only the best for him. But as someone who's covered football for the past several seasons and the editor of an NFL Draft publication, I'd like to think I have an eye for talent, and Huberty has it.

Huberty is also incredibly grounded and realistic. He knows he's not an elite NFL prospect. He's not going to get drafted. If anything, he's going to be an undrafted free agent. All he's looking for is a chance.

"Whether it be the NFL, Canadian, Arena, whatever league or whatever team wants me to join them, I'd be more than open to joining them," said Huberty.

Taking the First Step

While the top players in college football were invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in late February, Huberty competed in one of the NFL's regional combines in Chicago a week later.

The NFL's regional combines are less heralded than the version in Indianapolis. They receive almost no media coverage and are largely out of the public eye. But they're an opportunity for players to be discovered by NFL teams, and Huberty made the most of his day at the training facility of the Chicago Bears to display his skills.

His best performance was the vertical jump where he leaped 35 inches, which would have been tied for 14th best among linebackers at the Combine in Indianapolis, better than high-profile players like North Carolina's Zach Brown (33.5), Alabama's Dont'a Hightower (32) and Arizona State's Vontaze Burfict (30).

Huberty also ran 4.81 in the 40-yard dash and 4.37 in the 20-yard shuttle or pro-agility drill, again, not elite times but better than some players invited to the Combine in Indy.

Achieving, Leading, Winning

More than anything, Huberty is a winner. Minnesota-Duluth won the Division II national championship twice in his collegiate career, once in 2008 as a freshman and again in 2010 as a junior.

"When you get a chance to have two championships, be undefeated for those two years, that's something that not every guy gets to experience," said Huberty. "Not every college player––even at Division I levels––get to experience that.

"That's probably one of the things that I most proud of, being able to be part of two teams that had that perfect season record-wise. It's just an honor to be part of that, to turn the Duluth program around."

After redshirting his first year on campus, Huberty was a defensive backup and special teams player his freshman year, started playing a larger role his sophomore year, and then had a breakout junior season in 2010––the year they won the second of two national championships.

In his junior year, Minnesota-Duluth switched to a 3-4 defensive scheme, and Huberty played outside linebacker, their version of Clay Matthews. He led his team with 12 tackles for a loss, 7.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries, three of which were returned for touchdowns setting a single-season school record.

"To be honest, they were pretty much just hustle plays," said Huberty, being his typical, understated self. "I didn't have much of anything to do with the fumble being caused. I was just on pursuit to the ball on each play. Someone happened to knock it out. It took a good bounce, and I only had to go, the longest was only maybe 15 or 20 yards."

His senior season, Huberty was elected a team captain, a responsibility he took very seriously.

"I was more of a lead-by-example (type of captain): do the right thing, take a few guys under my wing, talk to guys one-on-one more so than the rah-rah, make a big speech (type)," said Huberty. "The guys on the team, they understood that I'm not going to be yelling, hollering, trying to do all these fancy speeches and whatnot. They kind of took to that.

"Some guys fell in line, they saw the light and saw that if we do things kind of how I was doing, we're still going to be successful for years to come. I'm hoping that gets passed onto the younger guys as well."

Over the course of his four seasons, Huberty accumulated 220 tackles, 37.5 for a loss of 230 yards, 18.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and a blocked kick. He earned all-conference and all-region honors both his junior and senior seasons, as well as being named a D2Football.com All-American his senior year.

The Path Ahead

If his college career and the statistics alone don't speak to the potential he has as a professional football player, I have one personal insight that might.

When I was Huberty's track coach during his junior year in high school, he qualified for the Wisconsin high school state track meet in both the 100-meter dash and the shot put.

If you know anything about those two events, you know they require a rather disparate skill set. The blend of both speed and power that Huberty possesses is quite rare.

In his senior season, he was the Division 3 state champion in the shot put with a throw of 56' 4.5".

But now the hard part begins. He has to catch the eye of NFL scouts, which is easier said than done.

Huberty's workout at the NFL Regional Combine was taped and is available to all NFL teams. He's waiting to find out if he'll be invited to the Super Regional Combine March 30 at Ford Field in Detroit. All he can do now is cross his fingers and hope.

But he's not putting all his eggs in one basket. He's already put his degree in criminology he received from Minnesota-Duluth to use.

"The area of focus I'm looking into is working in juvenile corrections," said Huberty. "I recently just accepted a full-time position with a juvenile center in the Duluth area. I had told them going into the interview that I was still pursuing things with football. They accepted that and were fine with that.

"I've been working at this center now for just under two weeks, and that's something that I've really enjoyed. And I've always just enjoyed working with kids, getting their lives back on track, showing them that they can be successful despite some disadvantages they may have at home or their environment."

As a writer, I've admitted my bias. I'm using this platform to help Huberty get discovered. He's a great kid and has worked very hard to get to where he's at today.

I encourage anyone to pass along this article and this video of Huberty's college highlights to aid his efforts.