By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
Westfield graduate Dillon Thieneman has been a Boilermaker and a Duck. Now he will be a Bear.
The Shamrocks star was selected by the Chicago Bears as the 25th pick in the NFL Draft Thursday evening. Thieneman played safety for the Oregon Ducks this past season after two successful years with the Purdue Boilermakers.
Thieneman, was expected to be a first-round pick. The NFL.com website describes him as a “savvy three-year starter with NFL size, speed and alignment versatility.” It noted his high production, as Thieneman totaled 306 tackles and eight interceptions over the course of his three college seasons.
As Thieneman accepted his Bears hat and jersey, his family spoke with ABC-TV. Thieneman’s mother Shannon Thieneman said it was “so exciting.” Shannon said she was filled with gratitude and joy, and that the occasion was the “culmination of hard work and perseverance to get to this point, and it’s so exciting to see this happen.”
Jake Gilbert, the former Westfield coach who mentored Thieneman during his time with the Shamrocks, said he was happy for Thieneman. He said becoming an NFL player was Thieneman’s goal “since I’ve known him.”
“He’s not a first-rounder by accident,” said Gilbert, who is now the head football coach at Wabash College. “He was a very efficient athlete. That’s why he runs so well and is so explosive. He wastes very little movement, he gets to the football with a quick read and directly. Because of that efficiency, he can be used in so many ways. He’s a great athlete, but he plays fast too because he diagnoses things quickly.”
Thieneman is Westfield’s first-ever NFL player.
“The odds against this are pretty amazing, so it’s surprising on the one hand that you would coach a first-rounder,” said Gilbert. “But I’m also not surprised in other ways because he was always consumed not just with football, but doing what it takes to get better all the time. It’s not shocking that he found a way because that’s just who he is.”
Thieneman was drafted just one day after the City of Westfield honored him with his own day, along with Westfield basketball star Braden Smith, at a special presentation at Grand Park. He was already in Pittsburgh for the draft but appeared in a video message thanking his Westfield fans for their support.
Gilbert said that Thieneman, Smith and Shamrocks star Micah Hauser were “physically gifted players who worked their guts out.” The emphasis, of course, was on the work.
“I hope that’s inspirational that if you work as hard as these guys, you can put yourself in position to do some great things,” said Gilbert. “A lot of people think they know how hard these guys have worked, but they really don’t.”
Thieneman was named Second Team All American by the Associated Press for his junior season and First Team All-Big Ten. He totaled 95 tackles, including 3.5 for a loss, made one sack and had two interceptions.
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