Flying Under The Radar: Sean Considine

With the Super Bowl within 24 hours, media coverage has been swarming over star players like Ray Rice, Ray Lewis, Colin Kaepernick, Frank Gore, Patrick Willis and so on and so on. But one man who stands out to me and most of the area around me, is another man. Born in a small mid-western town, Dixon, Illinois also former home for former President Ronald Reagan; Which is around 15 minutes away from where I was born and raised, Sean Considine has gone from small town hero, to potential Super Bowl Champion. Drafted in 2005 by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 4th round out of the University of Iowa, Considine has spent time on Special Teams for a handful of teams. Teams include the Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and now the AFC Champions Baltimore Ravens. He attended Byron High School,  where he was selected for 1st team All-State honors his Junior and Senior seasons. He went on to win state with Byron his Senior year, beating the St. Joseph-Ogden Sparts in Memorial Stadium, where they finished with a total record of 14-0. That very high school team set a single season scoring record with 673 points.

May 23, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens safety Sean Considine (37) runs drills during the Baltimore Ravens OTA at the team practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Of course with any NFL career, it is almost impossible to avoid injuries related to the sport. In his rookie season, Sean dislocated his shoulder in a game against the Dallas Cowboys. He was later placed on injured reserve, finishing the season with 6 games started mainly on special teams, recording 8 special team tackles. The following here started to show a little more promise, starting all 16 games and finishing with a career high 60 tackles, 1.5 sacks along with 26 assisted tackles. Now being a part of the AFC Champions, playing with Ray Lewis in his final season, the home town love for this kid from our neck of the woods is full force. My own cousin, Nigel LeBlanc was also born in Dixon, Illinois. He attended the University of Southern Illinois, where he played with Super Bowl Champion and former New York Giant/San Francisco 49er Brandon Jacobs. This may not be one of my longer articles that I will write. I just wanted to shed a little light on a man who grew up within same area me and my family did. So even if you are a Warrior, Duke, Rocket, Tiger, Spartan, Comet (referring to local high school teams in the area). There is one thing we should do besides cheering for Ray Lewis or even if you are cheering against the Ravens. Show this local man some home town love. He may not have a Hall of Fame career in the NFL, but he is already considered a legend in Dixon/Byron, Illinois.