As rare as an invitation to an NFL tryout might be for a Division II basketball player, Zach Noreen did something even more rare: He turned down the invite.
The former Bemidji (Minn.) State basketball player told The Bemidji Pioneer that he was offered the chance to tryout with the San Francisco 49ers during the club's organized team activities this week, but declined in favor of maintaining his football eligibility at the school. Noreen said he was noticed by 49ers general manager Trent Baalke when Baalke came to the school to watch his daughter, Cassie, play for the women's basketball team.
"He was watching the men's game and thought I had the attributes to be a tight end," Noreen said.
Noreen is a 6-foot-6, 255-pound forward for the BSU Beavers, and averaged 16.5 points and 6.1 rebounds last season. He has remaining eligibility with the football program, but would have forfeited his NCAA eligibility with the 49ers tryout.
Aside from spring practice this year, Noreen hasn't played football since high school, so he would have been the longest of longshots to make an NFL roster. But the offer alone will make a great story for as long as Noreen wants to tell it.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
