ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi did a feature story on a young boy with cancer and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, formerly of North Dakota State.

If you watch in the office, be prepared for people to ask you why you’re crying …

ESPN broadcaster Jon Gruden first mentioned it during the Philadelphia Eagles’ victory over Washington on Monday Night Football — that the play on which quarterback Carson Wentz threw a touchdown pass to Corey Clement was something Wentz suggested the Eagles install in the offense because it was so successful at North Dakota State.

It’s since been confirmed by both Wentz and Philadelphia offensive coordinator Frank Reich. A two tight-end set run often by the Bison in situations inside the 20-yard line was installed in the Eagles’ offense at Wentz’s suggestion.

The Eagles even received tape from NDSU to better study the play.

“We had to call NDSU, get the old film out so I could show them what’s going on,” Wentz said at his weekly press conference Thursday. “Then run it in practice and kind of convince them on it.”

LIVE on #Periscope: Tune in now as quarterback Carson Wentz speaks with the media. https://t.co/QJT1ZkeZBu

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 26, 2017

The play in Monday night’s game was one of the many memorable moments for Wentz in Philadelphia’s 34-24 victory at Lincoln Financial Field. It came in the third quarter with Philly up 17-10. On third and goal from the 9, the Eagles lined up with two tight ends. Zach Ertz went in motion from left to right and lined up next to fellow tight end Brent Celek. Wentz took the snap in the shotgun and Clement, a running back, slipped out of the backfield to the right corner of the end zone. Stepping up in the pocket to avoid pressure, Wentz found Clement wide open after a blitzing linebacker couldn’t recover after focusing on Celek.

Hey @cj_wentz, ummm what?
#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/rCJGQYFgzO

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 24, 2017

Wentz told reporters he suggested the play to Reich and head coach Doug Pederson early in the season and they were receptive. It also was used on a TD pass against the New York Giants. Wentz was less impressed that the play worked than he was by the openness of his coaches to take his suggestions.

“It’s cool to have that dynamic, that relationship with coach Reich and coach Pederson. They respect my opinion when I bring things up like that,” Wentz said. “It’s a good play. Obviously it’s been effective for us. I love that relationship that I can bring up those ideas.”

In his press conference Wednesday, Reich said it’s a play designed specifically for the “red zone,” inside the opponents’ 20.

“Sometimes plays just have a good mojo for you, you’ve had a lot of success, you’ve got a lot of confidence in them. And then you’ve repped it enough and you know — I think what happens when you run a play over and over again, you see it against all kinds of different coverages, you see it against different coverage techniques and leverage that defenders play, and really good quarterbacks learn how to beat any coverage when they have one play that they really like, and you feel like you can’t stop the play,” Reich said. “And even as we’ve repped that play, and we have different variations of that play so teams can’t zero in on it and ways to disguise it and ways to counter off of that play, but even in practice when we run the versions of that play, you can just see Carson just work the progressions and get to every receiver in the progression. I mean, literally all five receivers have caught that ball in practice and have caught that on that particular route.”

LIVE on #Periscope: Tune in now as Jim Schwartz and Frank Reich meet with the media. https://t.co/QOMzk8Hbtt

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 25, 2017

The Philly Sports Network acquired tape of Wentz in the two Football Championship Subdivision title games in which played at NDSU and found the Bison ran the play successfully for touchdowns against both Illinois State (2014 title), including Wentz’s game-winning TD on which he used a run option, and Jacksonville State (2015). That success is why Wentz likes the play and it made Eagles coaches more open to adding the play to their arsenal.

“That’s what happens when you — that’s why sometimes as coaches you don’t want to outsmart yourself,” Reich said. “You just want to keep running the same plays over and over again, make them look a little different, have enough in your inventory that defense can’t get too narrowed in on it, but certainly just keep running your same stuff and let your players play and make the plays that they should make.”

From NDSU to the NFL — both Philadelphia’s quarterback and the plays he’s running.

Carson Wentz has gone from little-recruited Bismarck Century quarterback to Football Championship Subdivision and North Dakota State star to No. 2 overall NFL draft choice to solid rookie season to … NFL Most Valuable Player?

That’s how oddsmakers and influential football writers are tabbing the second-year quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Oddsmaker Bovada has Wentz the even-money favorite to be the league’s MVP, ahead of New England’s Tom Brady, Kansas City’s Alex Smith, New Orleans’ Drew Brees and a bunch of other well-known veterans.

Longtime NFL writer Peter King is thinking the same way. The Sports Illustrated writer, while acknowledging MVP “favorites” will change from week-to-week between now and the end of the season, has Wentz leading the award now after a four-touchdown performance in a 51-23 Eagles victory over Denver on Sunday.

“Wentz, Brady. Brady, Wentz. Can’t go wrong either way. The Eagles have the best record in football, and Wentz has had dominating games against one excellent defense (Denver’s, on Sunday) and a good one, Washington’s. Wentz led Philly to 85 against Denver and Washington in the past three weeks,” King wrote. “He has the NFL lead in touchdown passes (23), and he’s second in yards and third in rating. Perfect example of his impact: Against Denver, he rolled right and, with Von Miller in his face, threw 32 yards down the right sideline perfectly for Alshon Jeffery for a touchdown—with Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib in tight coverage. Wentz has been making these types of plays all season.”

The magic is not Wentz’s alone. The Eagles, a 7-9 team last season, are 8-1 and Bovada’s favorite to win the Super Bowl, too.

The question now is whether Bison fans will get a glimpse of Wentz this weekend in Fargo. The Eagles have a bye week, head coach Doug Pederson has given them the entire week off, Wentz returned last year on the bye week and — this might be key — the family of the 10-year-old boy who died of cancer and was featured on ESPN because of his relationship with Wentz will be guests of NDSU during its game against South Dakota on Saturday.

WDAY-TV’s Dom Izzo and The Forum’s Jeff Kolpack dropped by the “Mike McFeely Show” on Friday on 970 WDAY to break down North Dakota State’s FCS playoff game against San Diego. They also looked at other FCS games like South Dakota State vs. Northern Iowa, Jacksonville State vs. Kennesaw State and Wofford vs. Furman.

Listen to the entire hot mess here:

Carson Wentz says he’ll “come back stronger than ever” from a knee injury that ended his season, even though “it will be tough on me for a little bit.”

Through a video posted on Twitter late Monday afternoon, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback said the torn anterior cruciate ligament he suffered in his left knee Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams is part of Jesus’ plan for him. A person of deep Christian conviction, the former Bismarck Century and North Dakota State star spend much of the 2 minute, 12 second message talking about his faith.

Some quick thoughts for everyone. Can’t thank my family, friends, teammates, and fans enough. Love y’all! #AO1 pic.twitter.com/vBwxG4So5N

— Carson Wentz (@cj_wentz) December 11, 2017

But Wentz said the injury, which came in a season in which the second-year quarterback was being touted as an NFL Most Valuable Player candidate, “will not stop me.”

“I can promise to everybody, all my fans from the Philly area and the North Dakota area and all across the country, this will not stop me,” said Wentz, donned in a Bison hooded sweatshirt. “I will come back stronger than ever from this.”

Wentz was putting together a monster season for the Eagles, who clinched the NFC East with a 43-35 victory over the Rams. He threw a franchise-record 33rd touchdown pass against Los Angeles and had compiled 3,296 passing yards. Wentz left the game late in the third quarter after taking multiple hits on a touchdown run that was called back because of a holding penalty. He stayed in the game after he came up limping and completed a touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffrey before being evaluated on the sideline and leaving the field.

“It’s been a tough day on me a little bit,” Wentz said. “I’m not going to lie.”

Dallas Goedert’s grandfather sent me a wonderful letter (hand-written) and packet of information the other day. Gordon Phillips lives in Forman, N.D., and wanted to provide me the update on his daughter’s son, the South Dakota State tight end who will likely be a high National Football League draft choice come April.

Forman is about 95 miles from Fargo, located in Sargent County in the southeast portion of North Dakota. It is not far from Havana, N.D., where much of the Goedert/Phillips clan is from.

“Dallas was born in Havana and his family have been there for 127 years,” Gordon wrote.

It is also near the South Dakota border, and in the neighborhood of 30 miles north of Britton, S.D., where Goedert (“The Britton Bomber”) grew up and graduated high school. Goedert walked on at South Dakota State and became an All-American, graded by some the best tight end in all of college football. Goedert was a North Dakota State killer the last two years in the regular season as the Jackrabbits took possession of the Dakota Marker Trophy with victories in the rivalry game.

This likely left many in the Forman-Havana-Britton corridor with mixed emotions. They cheered for Dallas to do well, but Grandpa Gordon says the area is part of Bison Nation.

“Our area is all Bison and I also have four NDSU grads,” Gordon wrote. “Most are also Dallas fans.”

The update on Goedert from Grandpa Gordon is this:

Goedert graduated from SDSU in December and signed with the same agency as former Bison quarterback Carson Wentz, Rep1 Sports of California. Goedert is represented by Chase Callahan. Former NDSU linebacker Nick DeLuca also signed with Rep1.

Goedert and DeLuca are currently in Irvine, Calif., at Rep1’s facility training for the NFL Draft in April. They will fly to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., later this month. Then it’s on to the NFL Combine in March.

Included in Gordon’s packet was a copy of The Britton Journal weekly newspaper, which included a long front-page feature on Goedert written by Doug Card. There were many interesting nuggets in the article.

Goedert said some agents were pushing him to leave SDSU after his junior season and declare early for the NFL Draft.

“I started getting messages from agents trying to get me to go into the draft a year early,” Goedert told the Journal. “The first one came to our house in February, and I was getting calls and messages throughout the spring semester, into the summer. We (Dallas, his mother Mary, and stepdad Gary Carlson) narrowed it down to five going into this season on who we thought would fit best.”

Goedert said he received a text message from Wentz that helped him choose Rep1.

“One day after practice I got a text message from him,” Goedert said. “Everybody in the locker room read it. After he was injured I texted him to say I was thinking about him, and he texted right back. It was really cool to text back and forth with the top quarterback in the NFL.”

Draft experts like Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have Goedert ranked as the top tight end available in the draft. NFL Draft Scout has him No. 2 behind Indiana’s Ian Thomas. Kiper’s mock draft has Goedert slotted as the 25th overall pick in the first round.

“When I think about it I get a little bit nervous, but I’m hoping my name pops up in the first round,” Goedert told the Journal. “Some of the mock drafts have me as a first-round pick, but so much can change in the next four months. If I don’t do something terrible at the combine or the Senior Bowl it is pretty set in stone that I will go in the first three rounds, but it is going to be a nerve-wracking, exciting experience.”

Goedert is a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan and said it “would be really cool” to be drafted by the Packers so he could play with Aaron Rodgers.

In his packet, along with a family Christmas card, Grandpa Gordon included a photocopy of some advertisements he bought in The Britton Journal.

“Havana Is Proud Of Dallas Goedert – SDSU All American Football Player – Havana Resident from 1995-1998”

Included was a photo of Goedert and one of Grandpa Gordy’s great-children walking together down the aisle of a store.

The ads were signed: “Proud Grandpa Gordy.”

Proud enough to write a letter to a columnist in Fargo, with all of the needed information included.

PHILADELPHIA — Former North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz isn’t talking to the media as he rehabilitates his injured knee, but that didn’t stop him from celebrating the Philadelphia Eagles’ 38-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game. He made his way through the Eagles locker room after the game and talked to teammates.

The Eagles will play the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 4 in Minneapolis.

ST. PAUL — Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, the former North Dakota State star, spent some time visiting with reporters at Super Bowl media day Monday night at the Xcel Energy Center. He talked about his emotions of not being able to play in the Super Bowl because of an injured knee, and gave his thoughts on how Eagles fans treated Vikings fans at the NFC Championship game.

Listen to the scrum in its entirety here:

MINNEAPOLIS — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady spent time as a young boy at his grandparents’ lake place near Browerville, Minn. This was an early week Super Bowl story and allowed Minnesota media to make a “he’s one of us” connection to the greatest quarterback in NFL history, who will play in Super Bowl LII Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tom Hintgen, a semi-retired newspaperman who writes a weekly column for the Fergus Falls Daily Journal, would like to remind everyone that Eagles QB Carson Wentz — not playing in the big game because of a knee injury — also has Minnesota lakes country connections.

Wentz grew up in Bismarck, N.D., and played college ball at North Dakota State in Fargo, but his mother was born in Fergus Falls and spent the first six years of her life there.

Hintgen forwarded a piece that appeared in the Fergus Falls Daily Journal in late 2017 outlining the Wentz connection to the Otter Tail County city.

Wentz’s grandparents Jim and Bev Schaack and their three sons moved to Fergus Falls in October 1962. Jim managed the White Drug in downtown Fergus.

Their daughter Cathy, who would become Carson’s mother, was born in Fergus Falls on Nov. 25, 1964.

The Schaack sons — Steve, Greg and Brad — attended Our Lady of Victory School in Fergus Falls. Steve and Greg also attended classes at the middle school, according to Hintgen’s article.

Cathy attended Claire Anne Shover Nursery School in Fergus Falls in the late 1960s, according to Hintgen.

The family moved to Jamestown, N.D., in 1970 when Jim Schaack, a pharmacy graduate of NDSU, received a promotion to a be store supervisor. Jim died at age 46 from cancer.

Hintgen talked with Wentz’s grandmother Bev and quoted her as saying: “Jim would have been thrilled to have seen grandson Zach, Carson’s older brother, play for the NDSU baseball team and Carson play for the NDSU football team and the Philadelphia Eagles.”

Bev still resides in Jamestown. The Jamestown Sun did a story on her a few days ago that includes the following wonderful quote:

“As I tell people, he’s made me a celebrity in Jamestown.”

Fergus Falls is about an hour west of Browerville and can claim its own connection to a Super Bowl QB (kind of).

I’ve been working on a column about North Dakota State senior quarterback Easton Stick as the Bison opened spring practice this week. It will run in Friday’s editions of The Forum. The gist is that Stick has worked his way into becoming an NFL prospect and enters 2018, by some accounts, as the top-ranked FCS prospect at quarterback.

It’s long been my contention Stick is underappreciated as NDSU’s quarterback, in part because he was the starter in 2016 when the Bison lost to James Madison in the playoff semifinals and Stick didn’t play particularly well in that game. That ended NDSU’s string of national championships at five. But more than that, Stick had the “misfortune” of following Brock Jensen and Carson Wentz under center. How do you live up to that standard? Indeed, I once had a media member from the Twin Cities tell me that Stick wasn’t living up to what Jensen  and Wentz did. My reponse: “How could he?”

With Stick being scouted by the NFL and having his name pop into some early 2019 draft analyses, maybe the Bison QB will get some props his senior season — if he plays well and stays healthy. Other FCS quarterbacks like Eastern Washington’s Gage Gubrud and South Dakota State’s Taryn Christion will likely garner more preseason attention, but the website nfldraftscout.com has Stick rated as a better prospect than both those players.

I asked Bison coach Chris Klieman recently, as others did at the FCS title game press conferences in Frisco, Texas, in January, why Stick doesn’t get more national love. He is, after all, 34-3 as a starter and helped lead the Bison to two national championships (although Wentz came back from an injury to start and win the title game against Jacksonville State after the 2015 season).

“Part of it is the nature of how we play the game here,” Klieman said. “Some people would say we’re a run-first offense. I disagree. We’re a 50-50 offense when the game is in balance. When the game is out of balance and we’re ahead by three scores, we’re going to hand the ball off and get out of the game. We’re throwing it 25-28 times a game. We’re not throwing it 45 times a game.”

Klieman is spot-on, not surprisingly. By a per game average in 2017, Stick averaged 10 completions on 18 attempts for 164.4 yards in 15 games. Sam Houston State’s Jeremiah Briscoe, the FCS’ Walter Payton Award winner as the division’s best player, averaged 24 completions on 41 attempts for 357.4 yards per game. Postseason FCS awards are mostly statistic-based, and Stick — nor any NDSU quarterback — is going to measure up.

It was the same way for Jensen. He was not the best quarterback in FCS during his career at NDSU from 2010-2013, that distinction goes to Eastern Illinois’ Jimmy Garoppolo (recently signed by the San Francisco 49ers for $137.5 million over five years). But Jensen received almost no kudos nationally over the last three years of his career, when he guided the Bison to three national titles. He was named third team All-American his senior year.

Jensen was the 25th-ranked prospect among all college quarterbacks for the 2014 NFL Draft, according to nfldraftscout.com. He was third highest-ranked FCS prospect behind Garoppolo and Cornell’s Jeff Mathews. Stick is currently ranked 19th among all college quarterbacks eligible for the 2019 draft.

Through their junior seasons, Jensen and Stick are similar, statistically. Stick actually outstrips Jensen in a couple of categories.

Through his first three seasons, Jensen was credited with being the main QB in 38 games (including 37 that he started). He played eight games his redshirt freshman year (starting seven) and played 15 games in each of his sophomore and junior seasons.

His three-year numbers are 485 of 795 passing (61 percent) for 5,805 yards and 38 TDs. He threw 14 interceptions. Jensen’s record through those first three seasons was 33-5 (5-3 freshman, 14-1 sophomore, 14-1 junior). The Bison lost in the playoff quarterfinals his freshman season before winning titles the next two seasons.

Stick through his first three seasons was the main QB in 37 games (all starts). He played eight games as a redshirt freshman when Wentz got hurt, 14 as a sophomore and 15 as a junior.

His three-year numbers are 423 of 699 (60.5 percent) for 5,941 yards and 60 TDs. He’s thrown 21 interceptions. Stick’s record through his junior year is 34-3 (8-0 freshman, 12-2 sophomore, 14-1 junior). The Bison won the national title his freshman season (Wentz started the national title game after Stick won the first three playoff games), lost in the semifinals his sophomore season and won the title last season.

Jensen was slight bigger at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds (Stick is 6-2, 220). Stick is more athletic, faster and has a better arm. Jensen was a more physical runner and more accurate with his throws, although he probably had better receivers.

Jensen left NDSU as a legend, perhaps the most-beloved football player of the Division I era (ga-ga fan love for Wentz didn’t begin until the NFL Draft hype of 2016 started and he went No. 2 overall to the Philadelphia Eagles).

Stick, it would seem, is still trying to live up to the bar Jensen and Wentz set — even though there is every reason to believe he is every bit as good as Jensen, has led his team to similar levels of success and will have a similar shot at the NFL.

Like I said: Underappreciated.

————————————————————————-

Couple other quick things I learned/was reminded of digging into Stick and Jensen’s stats:

• While Jensen is credited with the FCS record of 48 wins as a quarterback, only 47 of those came as a starter. He entered a 2010 game early in the second quarter against Morgan State, with the Bison leading. But Morgan State went ahead again before the Bison came back to win. So that is Jensen’s 48th win. The record for wins as a *starting* QB remains at 47. Stick would need to go 14-1 to break the starting QB wins record and finish 48-4. With 15 wins, he would be the all-time wins leader with 49 and pass Jensen. Thanks to NDSU sports information director guy Ryan Perreault for helping clear that up for me.
• Also, I had forgotten how many times Jensen was injured his redshirt freshman year and really how it wasn’t a great season for him, despite the Bison making a run to the playoff quarterfinals. He battled turf toe after starting a couple of games. It wasn’t clear he would play against Youngstown State because of the turf toe, but he did — and suffered a broken collarbone that was expected to end his season. But Jensen healed quickly enough to play against Missouri State in the regular-season finale (a horrid 3-0 Bison loss) … but left the game with a shoulder strain. Jensen was named the starter for the playoffs and didn’t play particularly well against Robert Morris in a first-round game — then left a victory at Montana State early because of a concussion. He returned the next week in the quarterfinals against Eastern Washington. Whew.
• Jensen went 5-3 as a freshman, completing 59 of 131 passes (45 percent) with seven TDs and two interceptions. It wasn’t quite the splashy redshirt freshman season Stick had in relief of Wentz.