By Tom Thorkelson and Steve Byrne

The Kurt Ploeger story is about hard work, dedication, and reaching your potential thru weight training. Kurt participated in football, basketball and track while attending high school in Le Sueur, Minnesota. As a starter in both basketball and football, Kurt was a solid performer, but failed to make first team all conference in either sport. His best sport might have been track, where he placed 7th in the hurdles at the state meet. Kurt didn't know much about weight training and Le Sueur didn't have free weights then, so his strength training consisted of using a universal machine whenever he had a chance.

When it came time for Kurt to choose a college, he chose Gustavus Adolphus College in nearby St. Peter, Minnesota, just twelve miles from his home. As a freshman Kurt was 6'5", 195 pounds and saw action during freshman games. It was then Kurt started to lift weights and work on his speed year round. Kurt's sophomore year at Gustavus had him seeing a lot of action at defensive tackle, a position he did not really have the size for, but his quickness and pursuit made up for the lack of size. A mid-season broken hand slowed Kurts progress his sophomore year, but he showed great future promise. During the off-season Kurt worked extremely hard in the weight room. Following a regular B.F.S.

workout along with running and stretching routines Kurt made great strides in his physical abilities, gaining in size to 6'6", 242 pounds. As Kurt's junior year rolled around he was a starter at defensive right tackle. Kurt was really unknown in the league at the beginning of the season, but by the end of the year he was not only known, but feared as he was in on 96 tackles, blocked 6 passes, 7 quarterback sacks, recovered Humble, and blocked a punt. Kurt was voted to the 1983 All-Conference Team, All-District Team, and was voted to the NAJA Division II first team All-American. His outstanding junior year also brought the attention of the professional scouts from both the N.F.L.

and the U.S.F.L. Kurt's senior year of college football found more success for both Kurt and the Gustavus football team. His statistics were almost unbelievable: leading tackler on the team with 113 tackles (45 solos, 68 assisted), 11 for a loss, 8 quarterback sacks, 4 pass blocks, and 1 fumble recovery. Kurt was a leader of the defensive unit that allowed only 17 touchdowns the entire season and limited the opponent to an average of 14 points a game. The team finished in second place with a 6-2-1 record. "The most amazing part about Kurt's senior season,"

said Kurt's defensive line coach, Steve Byrne, "was that everyone knew he was a great player and the offenses ran away from him or designed blocking schemes to isola te him and he would still make the play."

All-American Kurt Ploeger was overlooked by major colleges. Hard work earned him a 6th round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys.

Kurt shows us great form on a 300 lb. effort on the Power Clean.

Ht.

Wt.

XWhen Kurt got serious about Squatting then his improvement sky rocketed. (Refer to progress chart on Page 5.) Kurt Squats 500 pounds.

A favorite auxiliary lift is the Incline Press. Kurt is shown here with 225 pounds.

Kurt's weight training had paid off. Playing his senior year at 6'6", 260 pounds and still keeping his 40 yard dash speed at 4.8, Kurt received several post season honors. Once again, Kurt was a unanimous first team All-Conference selection, twice named M.I.A.C. conference player of the week, and chose to the Kodak N.C.A.A. Division III All-American first team as a defensive lineman. "Kurt's a completely self-motivated athlete," Coach Byrne stated, "he set his goals high and then re-set them after reaching them. There is no doubt that Kurt's B.F.S. weight training enabled him to reach his full athletic potential and allowed him to be one of the more durable players in the league."

This spring Kurt graduated from Gustavus with a degree in Business. Also this spring, Kurt reached one of his biggest goals when the Dallas Cowboys drafted him in the 6th round. He is presently in Thousand Oaks California, at the Cowboy's training camp. Those who know Kurt best have every confidence that he will make it in the NFL. Kurt is a very special young man who has his whole life in order.

WE GOOFED!

COST: ONLY $4.95 Coach Costello is a great technician and has written an easy to read complete book on PLYOMETRICS and Training for ALL Sports. Box 20612 Salt Lake City, UT 84120 Story By: Tom Thorkelson - Gustavus Adolphus Assistant Track Coach and BFS Rep. Steve Byrne - Assistant Football Coach at Gustavus Adolphus.

Last issue I wrote an article on "Oregon State A New Look. Bill Tapp from El Cajon, California wrote about some bonafide errors in the article. I was at Oregon State University in 1965-66 and I relied on my memory which as it turned out wasn't so good. After receiving Bill's letter, I immediately called Oregon State and found out that he was correct. Oregon State went to the January 1st, 1965 Rose Bowl under Tommy Protho not Dee Andros and lost 34-7 to Michigan. The next three seasons were as follows: 5-5, 7-3 and 7-2-1. In that last 1967 season, Oregon State beat USC and O.J. Simpson 3-0 and not in 1965 as I reported. Thanks Bill for keeping me on my toes. fI

From BFS Magazine — September/October 1985. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).