Cowboys First Rounder Leighton Vander Esch Played Eight Man Football Until College Because He Grew Up In An Idaho Town of 400 People

Listen I hate the Cowboys as much as you, but that was a pretty cool moment last night. Leighton Vander Esch was taken by Dallas with the 19th pick. Vander Esch grew up in Riggins, Idaho which has a population of FOUR HUNDRED PEOPLE. I grew up in a pretty normal town in New Jersey and we had 2,000 people in our high school, with around 600 in my graduating senior class. Because of the small population, Vander Esch had to play 8v8 football up until college. EIGHT MAN FOOTBALL!!

He walked on at Boise State and became a monster, coming into the draft as the 2nd ranked linebacker by Pro Football Talk. I can’t even imagine going from living in Riggins, Idaho to Dallas, Texas. I mean look at this place..

If you told me Riggins, Idaho didn’t have electricity I’d believe you. I just assume they’re a town based off fishing with that river that runs though it. If the river were to dry up everyone would die. No one has Twitter, no one has Facebook, and I bet there’s only one specific location where you get cell service. It’s just living on another planet over there. But I’ll tell ya what. They all just became Cowboys fans, and that one bar I showed at the top of the blog will be jam packed out the door with half of the town on every Sunday.

Like I said I hate the Jerry Jones and the Cowboys as much as the next person, but it’s tough not to root for this kid.

Advertisement

He’s also Thad Castle. They are the same exact person.