MENOMONIE (April 23, 2020) - With the three-day NFL Draft getting underway today, let's take a look at draft choices produced by UW-Stout over the years. The Blue Devils have had four players that were selected in the NFL Draft over the years.
Tony Beckham, a two-time All-American defensive back, was taken by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft, the 115th player taken in the draft, the highest WIAC (or WSUC) player taken since UW-La Crosse offensive tackle Tom Newberry was taken 50th in the second round in 1986 by the Los Angeles Rams. Beckham went on to play five years in the NFL, four years with Tennessee 2002-05, then with Detroit in 2007.
Beckham was a key player in the Blue Devils' 2000 conference championship season. A speedy defensive back from Ocala, Fla., who was overlooked by Division I programs, Beckham also returned kickoffs and played some wide receiver. Beckham earned all-WIAC first team honors in 2000 and 2001, and honorable mention honors in 1999. Beckham was a usafootball.com All-America pick as a junior and as a senior, he was a first team All-America pick by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), in addition to earning D3football.com All-American honors. Beckham was selected to play in the Aztec Bowl, an all-star game of NCAA Division III players. Beckham was selected to the D3football.com All-Decade team. Beckham was selected as a member of the WIAC All-Time Football Team in 2012.
Beckham would play in the 2001 Blue-Gray Game on Christmas Day and would improve his stock for the upcoming NFL Draft later that spring. Beckham trained at UW-Madison with several of the Badger draft-hopefuls. Nearly every NFL team inquired about Beckham and they all saw him at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Ind., that winter. Beckham played in more than 50 NFL games, and notched several starts.
Stout had three other players drafted when there were 17 rounds.
Center Dick Erickson was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the seventh round as the 183rd player in the 1967 draft, the first year the NFL and AFL held a combined draft. Erickson was a member of the 1965 conference championship team. Erickson was a four-year letterwinner for the Blue Devils, earning the starting center spot as a sophomore and not relinquishing the spot throughout his career. Erickson also drew interest from the San Francisco 49ers, the Minnesota Vikings and the San Diego Chargers.
Tackle Gary Inskeep was drafted by the New York Giants in the 13th round of the as the 325th player in the 1970 draft. Inskeep never reported to the Giants, but went on to have a successful career in the Canadian Football League. Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats until his retirement in 1974. Inskeep was a member of the Hamilton team when the Tiger-Cats won the CFL Grey Cup Championship with a 13-10 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders Dec. 3, 1972.
Defensive back Reggie Holmes was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 12th round as the 310th player in the 1971 draft. Unlike Beckham, Erickson or Inskeep, Holmes never was selected to the all-conference team. An Alliance, Ohio, native, Holmes played halfback his first two seasons with the Blue Devils, then was switched to cornerback, although he played as flanker in long yardage situations and was the team's return specialist, finishing second in the 1970 rankings in kickoff returns. Holmes came to Stout after serving in the Army in Vietnam. Holmes also played two years on the Stout baseball team as the center fielder. Holmes was scouted by nearby Minnesota during a fall practice. "I felt like a computer card," Holmes told the Dunn County News after the workout.
The WIAC and WSUC has had 31 players drafted by NFL teams since 1951, with UW-La Crosse accounting for nine players. The latest conference player taken in the NFL Draft was UW-Whitewater wide receiver Derek Staley who was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2007 draft.
While not drafted out of UW-Stevens Point, offensive lineman Ryan Ramczyk played two years for the Pointers (2013-14) before transferring to UW-Madison where he went on to earn first team All-American honors and was drafted in the first round of the 2017 Draft by the New Orleans Saints, where he has started ever since.
Stout has had three players log time during the regular season NFL games. Beckham leads the way after logging five years in the NFL. Defensive lineman Jeff Hazuga, a Blue Devil teammate with Beckham on the 2000 championship team, played parts of the 2001 and 2002 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent. Halfback Bob McRoberts, who was born in nearby Eau Galle, played with the Boston Yanks in 1944, and saw action in one game.
