I’ve made no secret of the fact that Luis Perez is my favorite non-NFL player. It’s not just his spring football pedigree – the Birmingham Iron (Alliance of American Football), Jousters (The Spring League), Los Angeles Wildcats and New York Guardians (XFL 2.0), New Jersey Generals (modern USFL), Vegas Vipers (XFL 3.0) and Arlington Renegades (XFL 3.0 and United Football League) – it’s his college journey.
The guy didn’t come to pro ball from a blue blood program, but rather community college (Southwestern) and Division II (East Texas A&M University).
He recently announced he was returning to Arlington for the UFL’s second season, which is a good reason for alt-football fans to keep an eye on Bob Stoops’ team. But now the Renegades have given me another guy to root for: Luke Lehnen of North Central College.
Maybe you haven’t heard of Lehnen or his school.
That’s understandable.
Lehnen didn’t spend his playing days shining under the national spotlight, because North Central College is Division III. That classification is about as far as you can get from big budget, major college football.
So, there was no scholarship to lure him to the Cardinals, or the promise of a multimillion dollar NIL deal. What there was, though, was an opportunity and man, did he ever take advantage of it.
The two-time Gagliardi Trophy winner (the top award for D3 players) played every game the last four seasons for North Central College. He completed 178 of 257 passes for 2,960 yards and 39 touchdowns and ran for 924 yards and a career-high 14 rushing touchdowns this year in leading his team to a 15-0 record and D3 championship.
In a 41-25 win over Mount Union in the tile tilt on January 5, he accounted for five touchdowns and finished his college career with a 57-2 record.
He owns the NCAA record (all-divisions) for touchdowns responsible for (208) and is the only player in collegiate history with at least 50 rushing touchdowns (50) to go with at least 100 passing touchdowns (158).
The Renegades signed him on Thursday.
“We are excited to bring in a player like Luke and provide him an opportunity to showcase his skills,” Renegades general manager Rick Mueller said in a statement released by the club. “The talent he brings will capitalize on the experienced roster we have. We look forward to working with him this upcoming season.”
In 2023, he led the nation in completion percentage and touchdown passes, setting records for passing efficiency (263.2), yards per pass (14.7), yards per completion (20.0) and percentage of passes completed for touchdowns (20.7).
A native of Chatham, Illinois, Lehnen has thrown at least one TD pass in a record 58 consecutive games, and owns the Division III mark for career total offensive yards (15,632).
His 162 touchdown tosses ties him with John Matocha (Division II Colorado School of Mines) for most in the annals of the college game.
While the UFL is designed to help players either get their first shot at the NFL or another chance at a roster spot, it’s also about opportunity. Most of these guys aren’t gonna stick in the biggest league of all, but they can still make a living playing professional football.
In the case of the 6-1 202-pound Lehnen, I doubt that was a realistic goal when he first suited up for the Cards. There is an old NCAA commercial featuring student-athletes who proclaim, “Almost all of us will be going pro in something other than sports.”
That’s especially true for those coming out of the D3 pool.
And considering Lehnen was a finalist for the William V. Campbell Award – college football’s highest academic award – he obviously has the brains to take him far in life.
Still, how cool is it for him to be able to pay for play?
It reminds me of what Birmingham Stallions coach Skip Holtz said before the USFL initiated the new era of spring football back in 2022.
“Every meeting, we have a player stand up and talk about his ‘Why,’” he said. “Why are they playing the game? What’s their passion? What’s their motivation? What drives them to do what they’re doing right now? And the whys are incredible. When you listen to why these young men are here and what they’ve had to overcome to be here and what they want to accomplish being in this league, it’s been really rewarding.
“Every player under that helmet has a story. Everybody’s overcome adversity to get here and everybody has dreams and visions of where they want to go. This is another opportunity to keep those hopes and dreams alive.”
Now, Lehnen is getting such an opportunity.
Obviously, this is hardly a done deal.
The UFL keeps three quarterbacks and only two are on the game day active roster. With Perez returning – and a lot of NFL near-miss signal callers looking for work – Lehnen has a steep climb ahead.
However, a D3 product getting a chance to make that climb is quite an honor.
The Renegades are providing the harness and rope. The rest is up to him.
GREAT story! These are the folks the spring league’s were made to accommodate! Mr. Lehnen is on my radar, and I’ll root my brains out for him! Nice work, Scott! My son is head coach at Southern Oregon, an NAIA school…a reciever, forget his name, was in Philly for a season…it’s just fun, ain’t it?
I’ve enjoyed watching the Stallions these past few years. Particularly stories like this. Talent from the hidden places.