The path to the NFL is hardly blazed through Division II schools such as Assumption. But with faith and determination, several former Greyhounds are making their marks on the gridiron.
After graduating from Assumption, Zach Triner ’15 moved across the country to San Diego, where he lived in his Jeep Wrangler in the parking lot of former NFL kicker John Carney’s training facility. Triner, undrafted and hoping to make it to the National Football League (NFL) – a dream he’d had since writing it down in his second-grade yearbook – with unwavering faith was willing to do whatever it took to make his dream come true.
“Someone along the way told me it would be impossible or too hard,” the Marshfield native said about abandoning his dream of playing professional football for lacrosse in high school. “You don’t want to listen to it, but it’s hard not to have it in your subconscious.”
Five years later, Triner is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ long snapper, but it wasn’t an easy road; it took a lot of faith to get there. Over the next four years, Triner had workouts, tryouts, or participated in camps 13 times, eventually moving back east to put his psychology and political science degrees to use working for Fidelity Investments in between, but he never gave up.
“I tried out for a third of the League and heard no after no after no, signed a contract and got cut, signed a contract and got cut,” he said. “You have to be some kind of psycho to keep going. But Assumption did a good job in helping me realize that if you believe it, and are willing to put in the work, and have faith, then you can do it. People hear the word faith and think it’s religious and don’t want to touch it, but what faith really means is do you believe in it?”
Triner, who decided to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL when he enrolled at Assumption in 2012, credits the institution for providing him with the skills needed to succeed both on and off the football field. Triner said he learned how to carry himself and to work hard at all times, even on the days he did not necessarily feel up to it. He shared that then-Assumption head football coach Bob Chesney taught him that if you work on yourself throughout the day, work on small things that make you a better person, like picking up a tipped-over trash can or holding the door for someone, it will carry over onto the field.
“When you get to practice, you start looking for the small things to improve upon,” he said. “When you try to be a better person off the field, you would be surprised how easy it is to become a better player and find things to do better.”
Triner maintained that work ethic and, although he is the oldest rookie in the NFL this season, he’s already making an impact on his coaches and teammates. “I think what Zach brings to the team is energy and toughness,” said Buccaneers’ Special Teams Coordinator Keith Armstrong. “He is a competitive person and he is a tough kid.”
Armstrong said that Triner “does a heck of a job running our meetings” when he isn’t in the meeting room. “When you talk about off the field, I also think he has some leadership abilities. He’s got a good chance to be a leader – he is a serious kid and he studies the game. I am very happy to have him,” he added.
Along with the support of his wife (high school sweetheart Carissa), the lessons learned at Assumption and his faith are what helped Triner push through the hard times. Though Triner grew up a Catholic, with age he drifted from the Church. He said two friends, Blake Nold ’15 and Jack Dustin ’15, were helpful in bringing him back. “Blake and Jack, every week, no matter if they went out the night before, would get up and go to church,” he said. “They showed me that you can do both. You can have a social life and your faith. It was the ultimate thing to strive for.
Triner’s faith grew as he continued to pursue his dream. In San Diego, Carney, who traveled a path similar to Triner’s before spending 23 years in the NFL, gave him a Bible; he is someone Triner considers an important influence and “one of the good guys in an industry that can be very money focused.”
During that time, one moment in particular has stuck with Triner. While grabbing lunch at an In-N-Out Burger, Triner paid the tab of a young man in front of him whose card was declined. The man, who was going through a tough time like Triner, thanked him and shared the message that even through hard times, Jesus loves you.
“It was one of those times when you strip everything away and see what you have left,” he said. “And I realized there’s that unconditional love from Jesus. If you slip and fall, make mistakes, it’s still there.”
Triner’s faith remains one of the most important parts of his life. When he was working with the Green Bay Packers during the 2018 off-season, he and a few other players gathered for an impromptu Bible study group. In Tampa Bay, he attends the team’s weekly Bible study meetings.
“Someone in my Bible group said it’s OK for it to be difficult. It’s OK to not be OK, just as long as you don’t stay there,” he said. “As long as you put one foot forward toward your goal, you’re OK.”
Triner said that through everything, he just kept taking the next step forward and leaned on those around him, including former Assumption teammate Scott Simonson, who in 2014 was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent and went on to play for both the Carolina Panthers and currently the New York Giants.
“I am lucky that Scott had the success he did,” said Triner. “To have someone blaze a path and to have that path to follow is so important. It goes back to having faith and belief in your goals. I saw him have success and knew if he could, I could do it.”
Simonson is delighted for his friend and former teammate. “When he was going through the process of getting a job with a team, which to people who haven’t experienced it can be very grueling and disheartening at times, I told him to just try and eliminate all the noise and control what you can control,” he said, which included his training habits, his technique, and who he was as a football player. “You can’t get caught up and waste time or energy on something you don’t have control over. … Now Zach has done a terrific job of getting an opportunity and using his skills to make a roster and have an impact for his team, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Simonson also faced an uphill battle to the NFL. His only playing time in high school came during his senior year, and, according to the tight end, Assumption was the only place to give him a shot. “Assumption helped to continue to boost my confidence in myself as a football player,” he said. “After having success at Assumption and still being doubted by NFL scouts because of coming from such a small school, it really gave me motivation and a desire to prove those who have doubted me wrong.”
Like Triner, Simonson listed his future career as “NFL player” in his fifth-grade yearbook and held fast to his belief in himself despite the warnings from scouts that he had an “impossible goal” and “no shot.” And it paid off. He was the first former Greyhound to play in the Super Bowl, appearing in Super Bowl 50 with the Panthers, and scored his first NFL touchdown with the Giants in 2018. Simonson is proof that someone from a small Division II school can find success on his sport’s biggest stage.
“It means a lot to me to represent the Assumption Greyhounds in the NFL because it shows that if you can play football, or whatever sport you choose, and you’re good enough to make something out of it, someone will find you,” he said.
Simonson added that he looks at guys like Triner, Deonte Harris, and Nick Haag ’13 – his former roommate who has had stints in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants and currently plays in the Arena Football League (AFL) – with “the utmost respect because I know what it takes to even get a small chance and then how much more it takes on top of that to stick around in the league. Only a very small percentage of people can make it there from college. So it gives me great pride to say I’m one of only a handful of Greyhounds to [represent Assumption] in the NFL.”
Triner vividly remembers one of his political science classes at Assumption that dissected ways to get around the “red tape” when it interfered with getting what one wants or needs. “There is a certain path set out for you, whether it is to go to the NFL or get the best job, but just because there is a hurdle, a little red tape, you have to figure out how to get over it,” he said. “Be careful who you listen to. Listen to the whisper in the back of your head – if you want to call it God, you can – but if it is your goal, it’s your goal.”
SAINT(S) DEONTE
Zach Triner ’15 and Scott Simonson aren’t the only former Assumption Greyhounds making noise in the NFL this season. After an impressive preseason, Deonte Harris, a wide receiver and kick returner, signed with the New Orleans Saints as a rookie undrafted free agent, and continues to impress.
“To be able to represent Assumption, a small Division II school, is just a blessing. It’s an honor,” said Harris. “Not too ma
ny people get the opportunity, especially coming from a school with 2,000 people. So, for me to be able to say that I came from Assumption and I beat the odds is just truly a blessing.”
Just like Triner and Simonson, Harris’s success story – coming from a Division II school and having an immediate impact on an NFL team – is inspiring and an important lesson in hard work and belief in oneself. “Nothing’s really impossible as long as you put your mind to it, as long as you believe, and as long as you surround yourself with people who believe in you,” he said. “Just surround yourself with positivity. … Always keep God first. Know that He’s the reason that everything happens. So just keep your faith in God and stay level-headed, stay positive, and do everything that you possibly can.”
Harris is certainly doing all he can on Sundays. In Week 3 versus the Seattle Seahawks, Harris returned a punt for a 53-yard touchdown, and, for the first several weeks of the season, led the NFL in kick return and punt return yards. After an explosive Week 14 in which he amassed 205 all-purpose yards, at press time, he was on pace to become one of the Saints’ top return specialists in recent history and was named a 2020 Pro Bowl starter. While at Assumption, the 5’6” Baltimore native, who was deemed too short to play Division I football, set the NCAA Division II record with 14 career punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns and served as a team captain. He holds a slew of school kickoff and punt return records, as well as the records for career touchdowns (45) and all-purpose yards (6,173).
At Assumption, Harris not only learned a mental toughness needed to succeed on and off the field, but learned the importance of teamwork. “It’s bigger than you,” Harris said. “Knowing that this game is much greater than just an individual. It’s a team sport and you’re not in it by yourself. That’s probably the biggest thing I apply to my daily life.”
Though Harris misses his teammates and the tight-knit community, Assumption is never far from his mind. One semester short of earning his degree in organizational communication, Harris plans to someday come back and finish. “It’s something that I’ve been thinking about and talking to my family about,” he said. “I definitely want to finish.”
In the meantime, he’ll continue to dominate a different type of return.
