Mason McKenrick hoping to be first John Carroll football player drafted since 1991

Before the start of his senior season at John Carroll, Mason McKenrick stood at a podium at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton last August and made it known to all in attendance “the next level” was his goal beyond college.

The setting was the Ohio Athletic Conference Football Media Day, where coaches and the top players in the conference discuss the upcoming season with the media.

McKenrick was representing the Blue Streaks with first-year coach Rick Finotti and senior running back Ro Golphin of Gilmour. McKenrick, however, stood out at 6-foot-3 and more than 200 pounds. He looked the part, and played the part, especially during his final two seasons at JCU when he was a Division III All-America pick at linebacker.

He’s not done playing just yet. The Mentor graduate is hoping to be the first JCU football player drafted since quarterback Larry Wanke went to the Giants with the last pick of the draft in 1991 when it lasted 12 rounds.

The NFL Draft, set for April 26-28 in Dallas, is seven rounds, so McKenrick will have to impress to be selected. The big day for McKenrick is April 28, when Rounds 3 through 7 will be completed.

If he’s picked, it will be during one of those rounds, and it will be an achievement. Including Wanke, 17 players in the history of JCU football have been drafted. Before Wanke, the last player taken was running back Tim Barrett by the Browns in 1975. The majority of JCU players drafted were pre-1970, including Don Shula (the NFL’s all-time winningest coach and Lake County native), who went to the Browns in Round 9 in 1951.

Even with the odds stacked against him as a D-III player, McKenrick is going to enjoy April 26. He and family and friends will met at the Players Club at Lost Nation Sports Park for a draft watch party.

“I’m more anxious than anything,” said McKenrick. “These days are taking forever. Every day that goes by it gets more surreal because it’s (close) to becoming a reality. I’ve had goose bumps all week.”

How he gets to an NFL camp is irrelevant. Of course, McKenrick seeing his name pop up on the TV screen as a selection would be the ultimate thrill.

If he has to wait until after the draft to learn his destination via a free agent, so be it.

McKenrick is in this position because his frame (6-3, 218), athletic ability ­— “I think my speciality will be covering tight ends, covering running backs one-on-one,” he said — versatility (he’s open to play either linebacker or safety), and eye-popping combine results, which includes a 40-yard dash time of 4.5 seconds.

That’s a time similar to that former JCU linebacker London Fletcher ran at Kent State’s pro day when he was preparing for the draft in 1998. Fletcher wasn’t selected but signed with the Rams and became JCU’s greatest NFL player. He spent 16 years with St. Louis, Buffalo and Washington, and was credited with 2,031 total tackles.

“It definitely would not be a disappointment if I did not get drafted,” said McKenrick. “It’s such an opportunity just to be considered (for the NFL), let alone being taken.”

McKenrick said he and his agent Matt Glose have received a lot interest from the Ravens and Lions. If he’s drafted, the likely teams are those two.

“We got confirmation from both teams they will be in contact during the draft,” said McKenrick.

Dreams of the NFL were planted in McKenrick by former JCU defensive coordinator Chris Shula, who’s now an assistant with the Rams. Before he left D-III for the NFL, Shula — the grandson of Don Shula — had a heart-to-heart with McKenrick, who was a freshman at the time, and it stuck with him.

“At the time I was weighing about 195,” said McKenrick. “He said, ‘You gain 30 pounds, I’ll remember you in four years.’ He said, ‘I think you have the talent and the potential.’ That’s all it took. I kept it to myself the next two years, and then after my junior season I started to verbalize the dream even more.”

To realize that dream, McKenrick needs a team to believe in him, much like the Giants did in drafting Wanke, a Benedictine grad who originally began his college career at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to the 1991 draft, then-Giants assistant (and future Giants head coach) Jim Fassel put Wanke through drills at JCU. When the final round of the draft was nearing, the Browns were in contact and expressed interest in Wanke as a free agent. That’s when the Giants pulled the trigger.

It was an anxious day for Wanke, and he expects McKenrick to feel the same way.

His advice:

“You have to take yourself to a place where you realize everything’s now out of my hands,” said Wanke, a Highland Heights resident. “When the draft starts, I have no control from this moment on, but it’s easier said than done. You’re on the razor’s edge. I would tell him to take a deep breath and say a prayer. If he’s not drafted, it doesn’t mean your dreams are dashed. All you want to do is get into an NFL camp.”

Case Western Reserve coach Greg Debeljak was Wanke’s coach at JCU and was with him when he was drafted. More than 25 years later, JCU is looking for its next NFL draftee, but the odds are difficult.

Chargers general manager Tom Telesco, a JCU grad, said this about the challenges of a D-III player in the NFL:

“He’s told me this many times,” said Debeljak, a good friend of Telesco. “There’s like seven, eight levels between D-III and the NFL. There’s NAIA, D-II, (FCS and FBS), plus the Arena and Canadian Leagues. But mostly it’s the speed, and some guys can’t pick up the pace, and that’s the difference. The pace you’ve played at (in D-III) is like slow motion compared to the NFL.”

In a few days, McKenrick will find out if an NFL team is willing to take a chance on him.

“This is what you dream of,” he said.

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Editor’s note: This article was modified at 2:49 p.m. April 24 to correct the dates of the draft.