HARD TO SAY GOODBYE
All-American Peter Konz knew he would have a decision to make about his future, but the process that led up to electing to declare for the NFL draft was anything but easy
BY MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM
days with the stomach flu after getting back from the Rose Bowl. "I think it's my body telling me that it's time to relax,'' said Konz, a fourth-year junior from Neenah. "At the end of every football season, I tend to get sick and I don't know why.'' But this is not an ending as much as it is a be- ginning for Konz who will enter the pro draft. To say that he has been pro-active throughout the decision-making process would be an under- statement, too. Konz has paid special attention to all the de- tails, no matter how small. So he was prepared for any eventuality even
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before he received his grade from the NFL draft advisory board.
26 » VARSITY JANUARY 12, 2012
ll-American center Peter Konz was just "sick'' about declaring for the NFL draft.
Really, he was. Literally, he was. Konz was just sick — sick for
What was the grade, or the round that he was projected to be selected? "Second round,'' Konz said. "But to put that
into perspective, J.J. Watt got a second-round grade and he was the 11th pick (in the first round) last season. "With juniors, they like to be more conserva-
tive because they don't want somebody jumping into the draft because they think they're for sure a first-rounder.
"They really do want us to graduate.'' Getting his degree from Wisconsin was on Konz's mind from the very beginning of the pro- cess which he said "probably started a little ear- lier than a lot of people think.'' That's because Konz had heard "talk'' on how he measured up with the other centers in col- lege football and where he might be taken in the 2012 draft if he chose to leave school early. "At the beginning of the season,'' he said, "I didn't know whether I wanted to stay or go.''
