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The ‘Net Works Former Falcon Nick Schrank uses Web site, contacts to pursue NFL dream

By Jeff Malmgren Times-Democrat Staff Writer

If the Washington Redskins don’t hire Nick Schrank, maybe the Mars Inc. marketing department will.

Schrank’s goal is to join an NFL team, and his acute advertising eye is proving as valuable in that pursuit as his vision on the field as a linebacker.

For the last eight months, Schrank, a Warrenton resident and former Fauquier High football player, has been promoting himself as a potential NFL talent, mostly via a Web site, and he’s done an admirable job considering his circumstance.

After graduating from FHS in 2005, he never played NCAA Division I or II college football.

Yet through nickschrank.com and other avenues, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound 22-year old has made connections in the professional football world and even elicited a contract from the Richmond (V.A.) Raiders of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA), he said.

“As soon as that [Web] site was up everything started rolling,” Schrank said by phone Sunday while training in California. “[Richmond,] it’s professional,

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LIVING LARGE: Former FHS lineman Nick Schrank is working hard to play pro football – and his Website is helping. Visit www.nickschrank.com.

*This Article has been reformatted in order to best suit the webpage format of NICKSCHRANK.COM. The literature and photos have not been altered. The layout of the article has been altered in a way to best suit the needs of NICKSCHRANK.COM the webpage. Visit www.fauquier.com to see the original version.

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which is great. It’s part of the ladder process to the NFL.”

Schrank may choose to complete his bachelor’s degree instead of signing with the Raiders, though. He has one semester of course work left in his communications/public relations major at Radford University.

If Schrank chooses in the next few days to pass on the current AIFA contract offer, he plans to instead pursue a practice roster spot on a NFL team by showcasing his skills at the Liberty University pro day in March.

Schrank’s networking efforts afforded him an invitation to that event, and they also led to recent contact with a sports agent, to a unique training opportunity in Santa Monica, Calif., where he met former NFL star Eddie George, and to the contract offer from the Richmond Raiders.

“The whole process of trying to make football a pro career is based off your network, “ Schrank said. “The Web site was to set myself apart from my peers as far as getting exposure.”

Nickschrank.com is a clean, simple Web site composed of blog posts and videos showing Schrank’s workouts, games and other highlights.

One recent video features Schrank standing on a beach while holding a trophy he was awarded for winning the East Coast MVP honor at the North American Football League

(NAFL) All-Star game in Miami on Nov. 14.

“I put it up online, and immediately I started getting offers from arena football league teams,” said Schrank, who works out locally at Old Town Athletic Club. “ It allowed me to get legitimacy. It opened the door further.”

Schrank earned a spot on that all-star team after playing outside linebacker for the VA Crimson Cardinals of the NAFL, an amateur and developmental league for college and professional teams.

Prior to playing for the Cardinals, and before transferring to Radford for his final year of college, Schrank played two seasons for the George Mason University football team. He began there shortly after graduating from Fauquier High.

Schrank, the son of Bev Carruthers and Jeff Schrank, played defensive end for Fauquier, but suffered an off-the-field eye injury that required three surgeries and hampered his junior and senior seasons, he said

“That definitely hurt me,” Schrank said. “ I had a tough couple of years at Fauquier. But it was on my plate and I had to eat it.”

That history makes for a resume unlike those of most professional players, but George Mason head coach Matt Dyson doesn’t believe that should divorce Schrank from his NFL dream.

“Is it something he could do? Definitely. He’s one of the hardest-

working kids I’ve ever seen. I think he has the skills and intelligence to do it.” Said Dyson, who played two years in the NFL after being selected by the Oakland Raiders in the fifth round of the 1995 draft.

“It’s a hard road no matter how you go about it. The big key is if he gets a shot, and he’s using different avenues to reach that goal.”

Becoming a NFL player isn’t an unrealistic goal in Schrank’s mind either.

“It’s so intangible to others, but when I realize I can have it, it makes it a tangible piece to me. I’m just pulling it closer day by day.” Schrank said. “It’s not huge if you break it down and work at it day by day.”

FITNESS FREAK: 2005 FHS graduate Nick Schrank says he has a contract offer from the Richmond (V.A.) Raiders of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). He works out at Old Town Athletic Club.