Deaver signs to play at Concordia

Michael Deaver, the sometimes forgotten player in the Red Raiders' powerful backfield last season, signed a letter of intent to play football at Concordia University in Seward on Monday.

While Deaver has been passionate about playing football since middle school, he thought his career had come to an end in a playoff game at Gretna last November. But then he received a surprise telephone call about a month after the season finale.

"Coach (Vance) Winter called me on the phone one day," said Deaver. "It was a complete surprise to me. He said he thought I would be a good fit there. To be honest, I never thought I'd play football again until I got that first phone call."

And it wasn't just one phone call. Coach Winter continued to stay in touch with Deaver. He pushed Deaver to take the first step by applying to Concordia. Deaver eventually did as the coach asked by applying to the school in late February.

In the meantime he also applied to several other schools. But when word came in March that Deaver had been accepted and been offered a range of academic and football scholarships, the decision was all but made.

Since Deaver is also an honor roll student, he became eligible for scholarships beyond football. In addition to his success on the gridiron, Deaver has also lettered in wrestling and track.

"I really liked Coach Winter when I met him," Deaver said. "He was a real personable guy and seemed as much interested in me as a person as he was in anything else. He seems really enthusiastic and passionate about what he does."

When Deaver enters his first year at Concordia, Winter will be starting his sixth as head coach. Before he took the top job, Winter was the linebackers coach and then the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs. While Winter took over a struggling program, in recent years Concordia has begun to turn the corner. Last year the team went 7-4 and rose as high as 14th in the national NAIA rankings.

"It's like picking up where I left off with Sidney," said Deaver comparing the recent Raiders path to the Bulldogs.

The Raiders also struggled in the first couple of seasons under its new coach Todd Ekart. Like the Bulldogs, however, the fruits of the the young coach's labors began to pay dividends in 2013.

As for Coach Ekart, he was able to evaluate Deaver on the practice field every day. While not as fast or as big as his backfield partners Chance Anglin and Logan Lewis, Ekart found Deaver to be a critical element in the formula that made the Raiders such a big success.

"Michael was a good player for us," said Ekart. "Chance Anglin had a lot of yards thanks to the blocking on the edge by Deaver."

Added Deaver, "We always had them guessing on what we were going to do. That's part of what made our offense so incredible."

But Deaver was also able to pick up yards in big chunks when called upon. Beyond the blocking that helped his partners gain more than 3,000 yards, he averaged more than 6 yards-per attempt on his own.

With just 45 carries Deaver managed to rush for 283 yards.

"When teams keyed on Chance and Logan he was able to take advantage and rip off some big runs," said Ekart. He was also a really good receiver and was a very coachable athlete."

One of Deaver's most memorable runs was in Sidney's first playoff game last season. Against the Blair Bears at Weymouth Field, Deaver ripped off a 33-yarder to paydirt. It was the first time a Sidney post-season touchdown had been scored on home turf in 20 years.

Deaver celebrated the historic occasion with arms raised high - just like overflow crowd did.

While Coach Winter has not been specific yet on how he will use him, Deaver is realistic. He expects he will have to work hard to earn future playing time and be willing to fill whatever roll the coaches decide is best for the team.

"I don't really expect to see any playing time as a freshman," said Deaver. "But if I work hard at it I might be able to get in there as a safety over the next couple of years."

While Deaver will be packing for Seward toward the end of summer, he has already found he'll have some local company. A pair of Sidney track athletes, Karissa Segelke and Kali Robb, packed their bags for Concordia last fall.

"When I was walking the campus there Karissa came up an tapped me on the shoulder," said Deaver.

As for the academics, Deaver has not yet declared a major. He does, however, know he wants to study something relating to business.

The teammates he leaves behind will miss his presence.

"Replacing all-state players is always tough," said Ekart. "But sometimes replacing players like Michael pose an even bigger challenge."

He is the son of Aaron and Sarah Deaver of Sidney.