Fremd's Konopka commits to Northwestern

The Northwestern football program had the perfect Fitz for Fremd senior tight end Jack Konopka.

And that was a big reason behind the 6-foot-5, 265-pound Konopka making a verbal commitment in late July to the Wildcats and head coach Pat Fitzgerald. Purdue was also in the running among the 11 scholarship offers Konopka had received.

"First and foremost, I absolutely loved coach Fitz," said Konopka, whose four visits to Northwestern included last season's Penn State game. "I think he's going to take the program in the right direction and have success. It's close to home and the education is great."

Another positive was the Wildcats' definitive plan for Konopka's football future at offensive tackle.

"That was real nice," Konopka said. "Some schools would say we're not quite sure where you fit. It's real nice knowing where I'm going to play there."

Konopka, who has a 3.1 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and scored 24 on the ACT, wants to become a teacher and football coach.

He also followed former offensive line teammate Christian Lombard, who is a freshman at Notre Dame, and current teammate and Ohio State-bound center Brian Bobek with early commitments.

"I wanted to make the decision before my senior season so I could concentrate on playing football," said Konopka, who will also play on the Fremd defensive line with Bobek. "I tried to talk to both of them (Lombard and Bobek) about it and it felt like the right things to do."