By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
After winning three individual championships at Pacelli High School and playing football at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Shane Konop can now say his team won a title.
Playing for the Green Bay Bombers in the Indoor Football League, Konop and several other UW-SP alumni shocked Peoria in the championship game earlier this month. The Bombers upset the heavily favored Peoria 63-60 on a last second touchdown.
"I must have aged 25 years in the last two minutes of that game," said Konop, who had two tackles in the game. "There were times in college where I was in close games, but in this game I just knew that we would do it. It was kind of fate, I guess."
Konop, who played defensive line for the Bombers, was also joined by fellow former Pointers Jose Banda (wide receiver), Jeason Thomas (defensive back), Dave Diemel (defensive line) and Dean Lew (defensive line).
"It's nice because when we played at Point, we wanted to win a National Championship so bad. When we won this year, it was something," Konop said.
"There were a lot of guys that weren't there that we wished could've been there with us. Hopefully we made them as proud as we could."
Konop was definitely happy how his team, filled with mostly Division 2 and 3 athletes, knocked off the talented Peoria squad.
"It proved to me that it isn't about big egos, not about flashy runs," he said.
"Peoria had a more athletic team than us, but we played together. We trusted each other. (If that happens) a team of has-beens and never-will-bes beats a team of talent any day."
While that championship was his first team title, Konop enjoyed success as a wrestler and shot-putter at Pacelli. He twice won the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association heavyweight championship in wrestling and took first in the shot put at WISAA state track and field.
The closest Konop got to a team title before the Bombers was his senior year at Pacelli, where the Cardinals lost the state championship game in football.
Even though this was his second season playing for the Bombers, Konop still had a lot of adjusting to do. Besides the different rules for the indoor game (50 yard long fields with no out-of-bounds and no punting) he had to relearn to play defensive end.
After playing the position at UW-SP, Konop wanted to play linebacker and fullback and dropped about 40 pounds. But he ended up playing the defensive line anyway and had to battle opponents larger than him.
"When I moved back to defensive line, it was weird. I had to learn to play d-line again," Konop said.
"I had to make sure I was really technique strong. I had to watch film, watch techniques. It was kind of cool, it was a good learning experience for me."
The shorter fields in indoor football also change the focus of the game, Konop said
"There's a lot less of reading the offense (in indoor)," he said. "It was a lot more speed. Here, you pretty much know they're going to pass."
The competition was also much different than the college game, where he played mostly against Division 3 competition.
"The athletes, they were a lot better. We played against Division 1 athletes and some of them were amazing."
Some of the those top-notch athletes found some success in the upper level of the college game. A team in Lincoln, Neb. had a former starting running back for Division 1 Nebraska and also two offensive lineman who started for the Cornhuskers. Other teams had former players from Florida State and Illinois.
Konop got into the new league after his senior season at UW-SP. Former assistant coach Warren Hull helped him make a highlight tape and then told Konop to contact coaches, Konop said.
"When the season was done I wasn't sure if I wanted to play anymore," Konop said of his feelings after his final year as a Pointer.
Now that he's won a championship and finished among the league leaders in sacks with three, does Konop hope to take the next step in the professional football ladder?
"It would be a dream come true if it happens," he said. "I've got a lot of time left, but we'll jump that hurdle if it gets there.
"I'd like to finish my undergraduate degree. That's number one on my list. For one of the first times, this year, I realized that football isn't everything.
"I'd like to thank all my old coaches, friends and family. I'd like to thank them very much because I never would've been able to win this championship without them."