Pro Bearkats return to Bowers Saturday
9/7/2009 2:30:00 AM | Football
Sam Houston State football players who wnet on to play in the pros following their college careers will be honored at halftime of the Bearkats' game with North Dakota State Saturday.
A total of 33 Bearkat alumni have played in the NFL, CFL, USFL or Arena League and 18 Sam Houston players have been NFL draft choices.
This past spring during the weekend of the annual SHSU Football Auction and Dinner nine Sam Houston pros gathered for a similar reunion.
The group included six former National Football League players -- Stan Blinka (New York Jets 1979-83), Ronnie Carroll (Houston Oilers 1974), Odie Harris (Tampa Bay Bucs 1989-90, Dallas Cowboys 1991, Cleveland Browns 1992, Arizona Cardinal 1995, Houston Oilers 1995), Guido Merkins (New Orleans Saints 1978, Philadelphia Eagles 1980), McNeil Moore (Chicago Bears 1954-56) and Greg Studdard (Atlanta Falcons 1998).
Also attending were Arena League veterans Jerrell Barron (Bossier City Battlewings 2002) and Trey Woods (Texas Terror 1996) and former Canadian Football League player Bubba Thompson (Hamilton Tiger Cats 2000). Blinka also played in 1985 in the United State Football League (USFL) for the Denver Gold.
"The reunion this spring was a great event and it was exciting to have former Bearkats who played at the next level return," Blinka, one of the organizers of the reunion, said. "The reception at the North Dakota State game is one more step in our efforts to get our former pro players more involved in the current Bearkat football program."
