the roof, Thielen would catch it.

"What we saw every day, it's hard to sell that to people who just see he's not fast," said Nielsen, an assistant coach for Detroit Lakes when Thielen played.

When high school ended, Thielen told Herzog he was 98 percent sure he was going to Concordia, a Division III school in Moorhead, Minnesota, where coaches had assured him he could play basketball and football. Before he made a final choice, Thielen played in a Minnesota high school football all-star game. Minnesota State's coaches attended practice the week leading up to the game. Flint Motschenbacher, Thielen's head coach at Detroit Lakes, knew one of the assistants. "Nobody's on this guy," Motschenbacher told him. "You should take a chance."

Hoffner offered Thielen what he called the "Maverick500" - a $500 scholarship. Concordia couldn't offer scholarships as a Division III school. Thielen accepted Hoffner's offer.

Aaron Keen, now the offensive coordinator at Eastern Michigan, met Thielen when he arrived at Minnesota State Thielen's junior season. He found a "football junkie" who would sit for hours with quarterbacks, studying until he understood how his routes would look through their eyes, regardless of the defensive coverage.

"He would get banged up and bruised up in practice because he would go so darn hard," Keen said. "He had a phenomenal senior year. He was unstoppable for us."

After his senior season, Thielen contemplated his future. During the season, he would mention to his parents he wanted to pursue football further, perhaps in Canada or Germany. Minnesota State coaches unsuccessfully tried to