NDSU's Gatlin hoping for a shot in the NFL

Josh Gatlin of North Dakota State University scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a game earlier this season. Dave Wallis / The Forum

By Jeff Kolpack

February 10, 2011 at 11:07 PM

After a somewhat slow start, Josh Gatlin's season ended with a sprint. The former North Dakota State cornerback is hoping football doesn't slow down in the coming months.

Gatlin, fresh off a good performance at the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star game last week, is hoping to keep the momentum for a shot at the NFL. Gatlin had three tackles and the only interception playing for the Texas team.

"The feedback that I got was that I did a good job," he said.

Gatlin hasn't been invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, but he said he was told to be ready to come at the last minute.

At the least, he'll be a focus at NDSU's Pro Day in front of NFL scouts on March 21.

He has decent size at 6-foot and 194 pounds and was NDSU's fastest player. He finished with a team-leading five interceptions returning one for a touchdown.

The all-star game performance raised Gatlin's expectations from a looking for a tryout to looking for a free agent contract.

"They're telling me to stay focused," he said.

Gatlin's agent is Chris Murray, the Champlin, Minn.-based firm who also counts former Bison players Kole Heckendorf and Ramon Humber as clients.

"Chris found out about me through the scouts and he reached out to me," Gatlin said.

Meanwhile, advice through this process is coming from a friend who just went through it a year ago. Former Bison running back Pat Paschall is back in school at NDSU to finish his degree in emergency management. He said he expects to graduate in May.

Paschall signed with the New England Patriots as a free agent last year, but was later released. Paschall, who was the leading rusher in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision in 2009, was the leading rusher in the Shrine All-Star football game a year ago. He participated in the NFL Combine.

Paschall said he struggled with the passing game in mini-camp and was told he "wasn't coming along with the playbook."

"Inexperience is the biggest thing," he said. "I was the low guy on the totem pole and you have to be in the mindset of being perfect. You have guys making millions and when they mess up, it's not as big of a deal. It's a rough business."

Paschall said he's going to give it another shot at NDSU's Pro Day. He ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash last year.

Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack can be heard on the Saturday Morning Sports Show, 9-11 a.m. on WDAY-AM (970). He can be reached at (701) 241-5546.

Kolpack's NDSU media blog can be found at www.areavoices.com/bisonmedia

By Jeff Kolpack

Jeff would like to dispel the notion he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is on his third decade of reporting with Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he's covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU's Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: "Horns Up," "North Dakota Tough" and "Covid Kids." He is the radio host of "The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack" April through August.