Green Bay, Wis.----Recent Wingate graduate and current Green Bay Blizzard professional football player Robbie Nallenweg (Asheville, N.C.) has made the transition from the college ranks to the pro ranks. Although he hasn't made it to the NFL yet, Nallenweg is enjoying his time in Green Bay and soaking up every minute.
 
Wingate rising senior sports information student assistant Andrew Mouzon (Charlotte, N.C.) had a chance to catch up with Nallenweg this week. They talked about many things, from Nallenweg's experiences with the three teams he has played for this spring/summer to what he has learned through his journey. The full transcript of their conversation follows.
 
Talk about how it felt signing as a professional football player to the West Texas Wildcatters; most college student-athletes won't know how it feels to be able to play professionally...
 
"Honestly, it came out of nowhere. I wasn't really planning (on a professional career). Late in my senior season, I started to get some attention from the next level. I thought it was a real possibility, so I put additional work into it, spent some time with a trainer, a quarterback coach and a personal trainer. I spent time getting myself into pretty good shape…I had a couple of tryouts and things fell into place."
 
Talk about your experience playing for the Wildcatters...
 
"(Playing for the Wildcatters was so much different for me. It was a whole new kind of football. If you haven't seen indoor football, it's a completely different game…a much smaller field, a much faster game. As a quarterback, everything happens so much faster even more than normal football, so for me it was a difficult transition at first. I stayed in Texas for about two months; this allowed me to get accustomed to the game, which has changed my approach to indoor football."
 
What were some of the steps you took to prepare yourself to play professionally and how did Wingate prepare you?
 
"I wouldn't have been able to do it without Wingate, my coaches and the support I've received from so many people. When I came into Wingate, I was completely raw. I knew I had potential, but I thought I was good until I was there for a couple of years and realized I had much room to improve. Coach (Mike) Long and coach (Robert) Brown really kind of transformed my game and made me a great player, a great quarterback. Otherwise, I would have been nowhere without them. They put me on the right path to develop my game and learn how to be a successful quarterback."
 
What do you think it takes to play football at the next level?
 
"Persistence and hard work…I mean you really don't have to be the greatest or the superstar in college, you really just have to work hard and find the right opportunity for you. There's so much (football) out there, there's more of these professional leagues than I even realized were available. It's just a matter of finding the right fit for the team and for you. Of course, you have to be in good shape, you have to work hard and when the time comes for you to be evaluated, you have to perform. Obviously it is a business, so they're looking for production; you have to be ready to perform well when they're watching."
 
Could you talk about your experiences with the Salina (Kan.) Bombers and the community service you and your teammates performed?
 
"It was a really small community there…where everyone knows everyone, especially if you are a player on the Salina Bombers. Once I joined the team…if I ever wore a Salina Bombers shirt around town, everyone would stop and talk to me. The townspeople kind of knew about me already; this was really cool."
 
"When I got to go to the elementary school, all the kids knew who I was, so that already caught their attention. As a result, anything you told them or did with those kids, you knew it was going to stick. They knew I was a player, so they kind of looked up to me and my teammates. This fact gave us a platform to make an impact…that was the best thing about it…we just went right up to them and played with them at a field day and just hung out with them and talked to them about doing well in school and sticking to the books. We told them 'you know you can't play sports if you don't make the grades.' I love doing stuff like that."
 
You're a professional football player now, so talk about you being a role model for young people...
 
"I look back to when I was coming up, when I was a kid even into my teenage years. I always looked up to the high school players, local college players and obviously I had my professional idols as well. Brett Favre had a big impact on me…now that I'm in a similar position. I'm in Green Bay…I never thought I'd be here, but even here I can make an impact into our community functions and also when I get back to my hometown in Asheville. I know for a fact kids will be looking up to me and look at the position where I am now…I'll really have an outstanding opportunity to make an impact on the kids both in Green Bay and Asheville, just like people did for me when I was younger. It's great to be able to return the favor so to speak. I'm looking forward to doing this."
 
How has it been playing for the Green Bay Blizzard?
 
"It's cool, most people don't know, but I'm like a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan, so just the opportunity to be living here, I mean I live two minutes away from Lambeau Field where the Packers play, so it's really cool for me to be here."
 
Do you have any funny stories to tell about the journey, such as autograph signings, etc?
 
"A team actually called me past midnight one night, I was in Texas…this started the process for me to make the move from Texas to Kansas. The (Salina) general manger told me if I got there by Tuesday, I would start for them the next week. I literally woke up, got out of bed, packed my stuff and drove through the night 13 hours to Kansas."
 
"My first start in Kansas, I did pretty well…I wasn't expecting to sign so many autographs. I'm sitting there after the game…and I guess I spent at least an hour signing all these autographs. The kids were taking my wristbands and my towel; I wasn't expecting this. Every week, I had to go buy new wristbands and towels, so it was pretty funny."
 
What's one thing you've learned or been able to take away from the journey (so far)?
 
"Honestly, I'd say to anyone who would ask…chase your dreams. I always had a dream of playing football on the college level. I wasn't the best in high school…I really got looked at because I had brothers who were much better than me. When teams came to watch my brothers, they got to see me as well."
 
"I ended up developing into a pretty good player when I was at Wingate, so I was able to change my dreams into wanting to play professional football. I had a dream and I chased it out of nowhere really…randomly…and it worked out perfectly at the end. Anyone who asks, I'll tell them to chase their dreams, work hard and make it happen"
 
EDITOR'S NOTE
 
Nallenweg and his Green Bay Blizzard teammates have two more regular season games. The Blizzard visits the Colorado Ice Saturday. On Friday, June 13, the Blizzard hosts the Bemidji Axe Men.
 
ROBBIE NALLENWEG
 
The two-time SAC Scholar-Athlete Award winner, Nallenweg graduated from Wingate in December with a major in Biology and a 3.812 GPA. He was one of 28 candidates in the running for the 2013 Harlon Hill Trophy as the NCAA Division II college football Player of the Year. Nallenweg was a second team All-SAC performer as a senior.
 
Nallenweg led the SAC in completions per game (28.1) and completion percentage (70.3). He was fourth and fifth, respectively, in the NCAA Division II (in the same categories). His statistics line this season included 281-of-400 passes for 3013 yards and 24 touchdowns. He completed 24-of-28 passes for 273 yards and four TDs against Brevard, passing the career 5000-yard mark in the process.
 
Nallenweg posted 334 yards and three scoring strikes at Tusculum. The two-year team captain recorded a season-high 460 passing yards at Mars Hill. In his final collegiate game, Nallenweg completed 32-of-48 passes for 434 yards and four scores against number 21 Carson-Newman. His pass efficiency rating this season was 147.32.
 
In 2012, Nallenweg set school records for passing yards per game (331.3), completions in a game (43), completions in a season (326), attempts in a season (491) and completion percentage for a season (66 percent). His yards in a season (3644) and touchdowns in a season (29) are both second-most in a season at Wingate.
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, ranked as the 8th "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,000 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration, and doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy and education.
 
With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past eight years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing private colleges in the 2000's with 60 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate's 60 Academic All-America® honorees are number one during this millennium. Wingate's 69 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.