NIU's Simon devoted to taking the next step

Sensing the gleaming white wall outside the Justin and Sherrone McCareins Meeting Room was just a little too gleaming, Northern Illinois director of football operations Adam Clark recently had an idea.

Why not paste colorful "Fathead" cutouts of NIU's current and former NFL players on one of the Yordon Center's most prominent spaces?

And so, while NIU was in the midst of Independence Bowl preparations last week, some workers carefully assembled their ex-Huskies collage.

McCareins, of course, made the wall along with Michael Turner (Atlanta), Ryan Diem (Indianapolis), Hollis Thomas (New Orleans), current NIU receivers coach P.J. Fleck (in his San Francisco 49ers uniform) and several others.

By this time next year, you know senior defensive end Larry English - potentially a first-round draft pick - will have found his way on the wall.

You might not be able to guess the second-most-likely NIU senior to get his Fathead likeness on there, too.

Here's a hint: He doesn't even have 20 catches this year going into Sunday's bowl game against Louisiana Tech.

Wide receiver Matt Simon, acting in part on advice imparted by Fleck, plans to go straight from the Independence Bowl into serious training for the NFL draft.

He will suspend pursuit of his second NIU business degree in order to devote himself full time to the task.

"I've been approached and told I have a possibility to play at the next level, so that's going to be the next step in my life," Simon said. "I have an opportunity, so I'm excited."

Now, the skeptical football fan might be wondering why Simon (and the agents who've been hounding him) think he's a prospect. After all, he has just 18 catches for 333 yards and 2 TDs this season.

Simon can explain why his numbers plummeted from 2007, when he piled up 52 catches for 969 yards and 5 scores.

"I had shoulder surgery in the off-season," Simon said. "I tore a tendon in my foot and that has nagged all season. I had ankle surgery after my redshirt freshman year and that's coming back to nag me again.

"It's to the point where I think I've been able to tough through a lot of things and get over them."

And Fleck, who maintains correspondence with a host of NFL scouts, can explain the other reasons Simon could be a catch.

"He's 6-foot-2, 6-21/2 and 212 pounds and hopefully he can run a 4.5," Fleck said. "Any team is going to need that. Then throw in his work ethic and character.

"Scouts won't ask what kind of football player he is. They'll judge that for themselves. They ask, 'What type of kid is he?' You cannot find a better person than Matt Simon."

The Farmington, Minn., resident was one of 11 Football Bowl Subdivision players to make the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. (Illinois linebacker Brit Miller, Northwestern receiver Eric Peterman and Texas quarterback Colt McCoy also made the cut).

Among other things, Simon organized his teammates to serve meals at a DeKalb homeless shelter and to volunteer at the Special Olympics in Oswego.

"He's a high, high character person," Fleck said. "He knows he's not going to be a first-rounder. He knows he's probably not going to be a fourth-rounder. He might have to get invited to a camp."

Just three years ago, similarly sized NIU wideout Sam Hurd went from undrafted to a solid spot with the Dallas Cowboys. Why can't Simon do the same?

"All he wants is a shot," Fleck said. "He is a kid that can help an organization. I truly believe he's got a shot."