Derek Gearman

[Don Wassall]

I ran across Gearman while reading DraftDaddy's draft blog. He's a wide receiver for South Dakota. Check out these stats: in '04 he caught 20 passes for 500 yards and 4 TDs; in '05 he improved to 44/1215/14. Remarkable! That's an average of 26.8 yards per reception the past two seasons!

He's also a Div. II All-American in the high jump and triple jump. He's also 6-3. Here's yet another case of a white athlete forced to play football at a level where making the NFL is almost impossible, while a black kid with the same athleticism and ability would be smothered with scholarship offers from the big programs. Good luck to Derek, he'll be a senior in '06.

 

[SteveB]

I saw that post on DD also and I sent them an e-mail to make a correction. Gearman transferred to Minnesota to run track. I haven't found any information if he will play football or not. It would be a waste if the Gophers didn't let me play both sports.Edited by: SteveB

 

[Don Wassall]

Hopefully he hasn't given up on football. His stats with South Dakota were incredible.

But even playing for Minnesota probably won't help Gearman much. Aaron Hosack transferred from a California junior college and started for Minnesota for two years. At 6-5 with great hands and adequate speed Hosack had the talent to start in the NFL, but of course was forced to go the free agent/cut in training camp/NFL Europe road to nowhere route.

 

[Don Wassall]

This is on DraftDaddy today about Gearman. Sounds like SteveB got them up to speed!

"We mentioned Division II track star/top wide receiver Derek Gearman from the Univerisity of South Dakota yesterday. He quickly brought a response from some of our E-Mailer's, who thankfully told us Gearman had very recently left the school.....Here is an E-Mail from Steve:

"In the Draft blog, you made mention of Derek Gearman, formerly a player from South Dakota. It is my understanding that he has transferred to the University of Minnesota to run track. I have not found any information on whether he will play football for the Gophers. It would be a shame if he is not given the opportunity to play both sports for Minnesota.

"DD.com comment: Upon closer inspection, Steve is correct. Gearman is at the University of Minnesota and he's on the track roster. The Gophers football team will lose a couple top wide receivers to graduation (Jared Ellerson and Jakari Wallace), but return junior-to-be Ernie Wheelright and senior-to-be Logan Payne -- both quality Big 10 receivers. Still, we find it hard to believe the Gophers' coaching staff won't try to convince the speedy and very athletic Gearman to walk-on to the football team....If anyone any can give us any solid input on this it would be very welcomed."