Sunday Slam: Prospect's Palczewski Looks to Follow MSL's Undrafted Path to NFL with Broncos
Three from St. Viator Enter ESCC Hall of Fame; Daily Herald's Garofola Inducted into Illinois Wrestling Hall of Fame
In some ways it may be fitting that ex-Prospect and Illinois star offensive lineman Alex Palczewski didn’t have the pomp and circumstance of hearing his name called during this year’s seven-round NFL Draft.
The road to success for Palczewski has not been easy. But if anyone can navigate it the hard way and reach the destination of playing football at the highest level it would figure to be Palczewski. He signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent shortly after the NFL’s dog-and-pony show for future players ended late Saturday afternoon.
The 6-foot-5, 315-pound right tackle overcame a fractured vertebrae in his neck as a Prospect junior to earn Daily Herald All-Area honors a year later. His only scholarship offer during his senior season was from Virginia Military Institute before Illinois and others made a late push to get Palczewski in their program.
Most players in that situation would have redshirted but Palczewski had to start in the Big Ten against grown men as a true freshman. A torn ACL in his knee during the 2020 COVID-shortened season, two foot surgeries and Lovie Smith being replaced by Bret Bielema as head coach were among the challenges Palczewski faced in Champaign.
But “Palcho” persevered to become a first-team All-America selection among the numerous honors he received. He didn’t allow a sack in 2022 and tied the Division I FBS career record with 65 starts as he led the resurgent Illini back to national prominence and a trip to the ReliaQuest Bowl.
“It’s been fun to see and it’s been quite a road for him,” Prospect O-line coach Tim Beishir told us back in the fall. “I love for him to have great success because he’s worked so hard.”
Now Palczewski gets a shot to join a group from the Mid-Suburban League who went undrafted but played in at least one NFL regular-season game. Guys like Jim Schwantz and Scott Tolzien from Fremd, Tim Tyrrell and Andre Holmes from Conant, Tom McManus from Wheeling and Tom Nelson from Hersey who overcame a lot to spend multiple years on NFL rosters. The group also includes those who played during the 1987 NFL players’ strike as those games counted in the standings.
Tim Tyrrell - Conant
One of the great MSL success stories is Tyrrell’s route to a six-year NFL career. He was coming off a solid junior year at running back when he injured a knee on the first day of practice his senior year at Conant that required surgery on the first day of practice his senior year at Conant. He didn’t play for a year and went to Harper College as a defensive back when an early-season switch to quarterback by legendary coach John Eliasik was a life-changer for Tyrrell as he became an NJCAA All-American as a sophomore. He went on to a Hall of Fame career at Northern Illinois as he was the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year at quarterback for a team that will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its first MAC title and California Bowl victory this fall.
Tyrrell used his fearlessness to carve out a niche as a special teams whiz and he played 66 games with the Atlanta Falcons (who initially cut him), Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers from 1984-89. He was the first alternate for Pro Bowls in 1987 and 1988. Tyrrell was inducted into the NJCAA Football Hall of Fame in 1995, is a Harper distinguished alum for his success in business and has been involved with the NFL Players Association Former Players Chicago chapter.
Jim Schwantz - Fremd
The mayor of Palatine since 2009 and former Fremd three-sport star had a productive six-year NFL career where he earned a Super Bowl ring and Pro Bowl selection. The all-state linebacker for the Vikings in 1987 was also an all-Big Ten linebacker at Purdue who signed with the Bears in 1992 and played the first of his 70-plus NFL games with them. He was traded to the Cowboys in 1994 and played in all 16 regular-season games and the Super Bowl XXX win over the Steelers in 1995.
Schwantz made the Pro Bowl with the Cowboys in 1996 as the NFL Alumni Special Teams Player of the Year and also won the NFL Unsung Hero Award. Schwantz went to the 49ers in 1997 and finished his career with the Bears in 1998. He was also a long-time fixture on Bears pregame and postgame shows on WBBM radio.
Tom McManus - Wheeling
McManus was similar to Schwantz as he was also an all-state linebacker at Wheeling in 1987 and nearly made it to a Super Bowl in a four-year career with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The hard-hitting McManus had a Hall of Fame career at Boston College and was a third-team All-America pick as a senior but was a training-camp cut by New Orleans in 1993. McManus spent the next two years tending bar in Chicago and working in sales in Boston when former BC coaches Tom Coughlin and Steve Szabo took over in Jacksonville and gave him a shot.
McManus was ready, made the team in 1995 and in 1996 started 11 games and all 3 playoff games as Jacksonville lost to New England in the AFC championship. He missed all of 1997 with torn ligaments in his right knee but came back to play all 16 games in 1998. A foot injury limited him to his final 2 NFL games in 1999. He went on to become a successful sports talk host in Jacksonville, a motivational speaker, wrote a book about his father’s 1995 death from cancer and was inducted into the Wheeling Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.
Andre Holmes - Conant
Holmes was a seven-year NFL wide receiver despite a late start in football and being better known at Conant as a state medal-winning long jumper and basketball player since his dad Kevin played at DePaul. Holmes’ only scholarship offer for football was to Division II Hillsdale College in Michigan where he caught 104 passes as a senior.
The 6-foot-4 Holmes was originally signed by the Minnesota Vikings in 2011 and was on the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots practice squads before he played for the Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos from 2012-18 and caught 128 passes for 1,744 yards and 15 TDs. His best year was in 2014 with the Raiders when he started 13 games and caught 47 passes for 693 yards and 4 touchdowns. In a 2017 playoff loss he caught 4 passes for 50 yards and a TD. Holmes spent last season as the offensive coordinator at Kenosha (Wis.) Christian Life High School.
Scott Tolzien - Fremd
The Herald’s All-Area captain in 2005 and Fremd’s career passing yardage leader fought to find college success and play 10 games in the NFL. Tolzien was a last-minute signee with Wisconsin and emerged from deep in its depth chart to become a two-year starter and winner of the 2010 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as he led the Badgers to the Rose Bowl in his senior year. He originally signed with the San Diego Chargers but was cut and went to the 49ers, where he was on the roster for Super Bowl XLVII.
Tolzien was signed to the Packers’ practice squad in 2013, and when Aaron Rodgers got hurt, he was activated and threw for 280 yards and a TD in his NFL debut in a loss to the Eagles. He was also with the Colts in 2016-17 and threw for 1,065 yards with 2 TDs and 9 interceptions in his NFL career. Not surprisingly, he is entering his fourth season on the staff of the Cowboys and was promoted to quarterbacks coach in late February.
Tom Nelson - Hersey
Nelson was an electrifying all-area quarterback who led Hersey to the playoffs and a 7-3 finish in 2004 before going to Illinois State to play defensive back. Nelson was a two-time all-conference pick at ISU and was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2009. He gained attention in training camp on the HBO series “Hard Knocks,” made the team, started 3 games and had 25 tackles and an interception.
Nelson’s 24-game NFL career included stints with the Bengals in 2010 and Eagles in 2011. He was also in camps with the Bears, Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens. Nelson started TNT (Tom Nelson Training) in Mount Prospect and returned to Hersey to coach where he took over the program last season as the Huskies won the Mid-Suburban East and finished 10-1.
Tim Lashar - Barrington
Lashar played at Barrington before moving to Texas for his senior year and became an all-Big 8 Conference kicker at Oklahoma. He was the Orange Bowl MVP with 4 field goals as the Sooners won the 1985 national title and he set an NCAA record for consecutive extra points made in a season with 66 in 1986. Lashar went to camp with the LA Rams and was cut, but he joined the Bears in ‘87 during the strike was 3-for-4 on field goals and made all 10 of his extra points. The Bears also brought him back to camp in ‘88 and he returned to Norman, Oklahoma, where he owns a heating and air conditioning business and is active in the community.
Aric Anderson - Fremd
Anderson was an all-MSL outside linebacker at Fremd in 1982 and went to Division III Millikin in Decatur, where he played linebacker and defensive end and was an all-CCIW pick as a senior. Anderson was working for a moving company when he got his shot to play for the Packers during the ‘87 strike. He saw action on special teams and helped the Packers to their first win in Lambeau Field in two years. Anderson went to the Dolphins’ camp in 1988 and played five years of Arena football.
Creig Federico - Conant
Federico was a wide receiver for Conant coach John Ayres’ 1980 state semifinalist and played at Iowa Central Community College and Illinois State. Federico played 3 games at defensive back for the Detroit Lions during the ‘87 strike and had 2 starts with a sack. He also played Arena football with Pittsburgh in 1987-88.
Greg Fitzgerald - Hoffman Estates
Fitzgerald played football and basketball at Hoffman but his career took off during his second year at Harper College as an NJCAA All-American nose guard. Fitzgerald wound up with a scholarship to Iowa and signed with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL but never played because the league folded. He also had a tryout with the San Diego Chargers, came back to coach at Harper and was working as a real estate appraiser and playing semi-pro football when he got a chance to play for the Bears during the ‘87 strike (assisted on 2 tackles in 3 games).
Donovan Small - Wheeling
Small was a three-sport standout at Wheeling and Herald all-area captain as a running back who was moved to free safety at Minnesota. A freak injury after his junior year where he cut the main artery in his thigh required two surgeries and nearly cost him more than just playing football. Small came back to play his senior year with the Golden Gophers and was let go in the Houston Oilers’ camp in 1987 but came back during the strike to get an interception in his only game.
Mike Scully - Prospect
Scully was an all-area linebacker at Prospect in 1982 and went to Illinois as an offensive lineman. He was a reserve for the 1983 Big Ten champions and started as a senior to get opportunities to showcase his skills in postseason all-star games and at the NFL draft combine. Scully played one game with Washington in 1988 and has had a successful career as a golf pro and course director that included a leading role during the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club.
Three St. Viator Products Enter ESCC Hall of Fame
Mike Manno, Loryn King Kromrey and Lauren Weber Gaeger were honored for the success they brought to St. Viator with induction into the school’s Hall of Fame. On April 20, the trio was inducted into the East Suburban Catholic Conference Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023.
Manno, in his first year as athletic director at Nazareth Academy, graduated from Viator in 1994 and was a standout soccer, basketball and baseball player. He came back to his alma mater to coach in all three sports and led the baseball program to unprecedented success in a 16-year tenure that ended last season. Manno’s 2017 Class 3A state champion and 2016 3A fourth-place finisher are among 10 regional championship teams he coached and he was inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame earlier this year.
King and Weber combined their athletic talents in soccer for a 2002 Class A state title and also had major success in cross country and basketball respectively at Viator. King, who graduated in 2002, was a three-time all-area soccer player and she finished second and third in the AA state cross country meets as a junior and senior and went to run at Notre Dame. Weber, a 2003 graduate, was a three-time all-area basketball and soccer player who led the Lions to a repeat soccer title as a senior before going to play at Marquette.
The Class of 2023 included basketball stars Frank Kaminsky, who currently plays for the Houston Rockets, and Dave Sobolewski (Benet), Samantha Quigley (Joliet Catholic), Sam Maniscalco (St. Patrick) and Kevin Clancy and Mark Heidersbach (Notre Dame). Marian Catholic pole vaulter Melissa Gergel, Joliet Catholic assistant athletic director and football, softball and basketball coach Dave Douglas and Marist girls basketball coach Mary Pat Connolly were also inducted.
Three state championship teams from 2013 - Bishop McNamara softball, Joliet Catholic baseball and Marian Catholic girls basketball - were recognized.
Daily Herald’s Garofola Enters Wrestling Hall of Fame
Congratulations to longtime Daily Herald prep sportswriter Mike Garofola on his induction with the Class of 2023 in the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) Hall of Fame. Garofola has brought a lot of effort, enthusiasm and class to covering high school sports for more than 25 years and his work on the wrestling, soccer and tennis beats has earned tremendous respect from everyone involved in those sports.
Garofola was among 19 members of the Class of 2023 honored at the IWCOA Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony April 16 in Countryside. The Hall of Fame started in 1972 and has approximately 600 inductees.
Triumphant Return to Big Leagues for Stewart
Brock Stewart had not pitched in the big leagues since late in 2019 when he took the mound for the Minnesota Twins in an emergency relief role Thursday against the Royals. Stewart, whose dad Jeff was the star quarterback of Elk Grove’s 1972 mythical state championship team, also picked up the victory with 2 scoreless innings of relief.
The right-handed Stewart was 6-3 in 46 appearances with the Dodgers and Blue Jays from 2016-19. He didn’t pitch in affiliated ball in the 2020 COVID-shortened season and had to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2021. Stewart was called up to the Twins last week and he allowed only 1 hit and had 3 strikeouts when Tyler Mahle had to leave after 4 innings with elbow soreness.
A Hardey Honor From Prospect Track
Longtime Prospect public address announcer John Hardey was recognized Friday for his work at the prestigious 55th annual Knights’ Wanner Invitational boys track and field meet. Hardey received the Rich Hedstrom/Tom Clements Recognition Award for his years of service at the meet.
Lakers’ Christie Advances in NBA Playoffs
Two years after graduating from Rolling Meadows, rookie Max Christie was on the court as the Los Angeles Lakers were running out the clock of their 4-2 first-round NBA Western Conference upset of second-seed Memphis. Christie had 5 points, 3 rebounds and 1 blocked shot in 9 minutes as the Lakers wrapped up the series with a 125-85 rout. Christie also saw action in three other games in the series.
Andre Holmes was quite a tangle of arms and legs growing up. He and my son played on many soccer teams together growing up, most coached by my wife!