The NFL searches far and wide for talent. Doesn’t matter where you come from, if you can play, the league will find you. Sometimes that leads you to Surprise, Arizona. That’s where the Pittsburgh Steelers recently had boots on the ground. Posting to Twitter Wednesday afternoon, Ottawa University of Arizona football coach Jose Manzo thanked the Steelers and Arizona Cardinals for making their way to campus.
Pittsburgh has visited small and upstart schools like this before, taking a trip to Lincoln (Calif.) last season for its Pro Day. Ottawa has an enrollment of just under 1,000 students.
The Ottawa Spirit football team competes in the National Christian College Athletic Association, otherwise known as the NCCAA. They were one of the league’s best teams in 2023, going 8-1 and winning their third straight conference championship. Most of their victories came in blowout fashion, including beating Panhandle State 89-20 in the title game. The league has its own quirks, cancelling its championship game this year due to a lack of qualifying teams.
Their rushing attack was balanced with two players going over 700 yards and finishing with 11 touchdowns. QB Luke Giron had a solid year, firing 25 touchdowns to only six interceptions and completing two-thirds of his passes. Their offense averaged a whopping 55 points per game. Their defense did its job on the other side, opposing teams scouting just 16 points per game, intercepting 20 passes in just nine games.
It’s not clear why the Steelers were there but it’s logical it served as a check-in ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft. None of the Spirit’s players are draftable candidates but potentially someone could find a place in a rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.
Ottawa has been playing football since 2018 and the program found immediate success, never having a losing season. As far as I can tell, no Ottawa player has yet made it to the NFL, though its main campus in Kansas produced RB Derrick Ward, a seventh-round pick in 2004 who had a long NFL career and won a Super Bowl ring.
The NFL will hold its 2024 NFL Scouting Combine later this month with the Pro Day circuit to soon follow. We’ll have our eyes peeled for where the Steelers send their scouts.
