SIOUX FALLS -- For the 1st time, two former University of Sioux Falls Football position standouts have made NFL rosters in the same year (2019). Both five-time All-American offensive tackle Trey Pipkins and four-time All-American linebacker Dennis Gardeck have the final NFL 53man rosters. Pipkins, who was a third-round draft pick for the Los Angeles Chargers, and Dennis Gardeck, who signed as a free agent a year ago with the Arizona Cardinals and will make an NFL roster for the second straight year, have made the grade as NFL players.
 
USF Head Football Coach Jon Anderson was pleased and impressed that two former players made NFL rosters. With Pipkins a member of the Chargers and Gardeck again in Arizona, USF has a west coast tinge to its pair of NFL members.
 
"It's very exciting for Coo Football to have two players on active rosters in the NFL," said Anderson, who is in his third year at USF. "Every player dreams of playing at the highest level and Dennis (Gardeck) and Trey (Pipkins) are great examples of not only world class athletes but tremendous men of character. All of the USF family is proud of them and take great joy in being able to continue to cheer them on," he said.
 
Pipkins, who finished his career at USF in 2018 and was a finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award while earning the five All-American honors, played the 2017 season at USF with Gardeck as the Cougars made the NCAA DII playoffs.
 
Last spring, Pipkins becomes the first-ever USF position player and second overall drafted into the NFL. Pipkins was chose with the 27th pick of the third round and 91^st selection overall. Brian Hansen, the director of the FCA in South Dakota, was drafted as a punter by the New Orleans Saints in the ninth round of the 1984 draft, which was some 35 years ago. With his selection, Pipkins was the highest draft pick (third round) of any school in the area (USD, SDSU, Augustana, etc.). Pipkins for the past two years when USF was 16-7 overall and made a playoff appearance in NCAA DII in 2017.
 
Not only was Pipkins, USF's first-ever position player to be drafted but was the first-ever USF student-athlete to compete at the NFL Scouting Combine. Pipkins, a three-time All-NSIC selection, is one of five former NCAA DII football student-athletes and the only player from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference selected for the NFL Scouting Combine in March in Indianapolis. 
 
Pipkins of Apple Valley, Minn. (Apple Valley HS), was the first player from the NSIC invited to the NFL Combine since Zach Moore of Concordia St. Paul, in 2013.  
 
One of the nation's top offensive lineman in 2019, Pipkins was a USF sports management graduate (2017) and played a key role as USF earned three postseason berths and compiled and a 37-11 overall record during his time with the USF program. Pipkins finished third in the balloting for the Upshaw Award (DII Offensive Lineman of the Year), and was earlier named to the D2Football.com (first team), and Associated Press (first team) and the D2CCA (second team) All-American teams. 
 
Selected one of four team captains for USF, Pipkins was named to the D2Football.com and The Podyum preseason All-American teams. In the 2018 season, Pipkins was named first team all-league for the first time on one of the league's top offensive line units. USF, which ranked fifth in the league in scoring at 33.8 points per game, led the NSIC and ranked fifth in NCAA DII in rushing at 274.2 yards per game. The Cougars ranked seventh nationally in yards per play (6.98), led the NSIC and ranked 14th in NCAA DII in total offense with 466.5 yards per game. Pipkins also blocked for Harlon Hill Award finalist Gabriel Watson, who led the nation in rushing yards per game (177.9 yards per game, school record 1,957 rushing yards) and rushing touchdowns (26). In 2018, Pipkins graded at 91.7 percent (651 positive reps in 710 plays) with 90.5 knockdowns in 2018. He also was a leader on the offensive line in 2016, when as a sophomore, he helped Harlon Hill trophy candidate Max Mickey set a then school record of 1,765 yards with 19 TDs.  Pipkins, who had 234.5 knockdowns in 43 career starts, allowed just one sack this year and two in his career.  A two-time Academic All-NSIC performer, he had a 90 percent grade in 10-of-11 games with a season-high of 96 percent vs Minot State and graded 94.5 percent against Wayne State, 92.4 percent vs No. 1 Minnesota State and 92.1 percent from Winona State, both road games.

Originally signed by the Cardinals as a rookie free agent out of USF in 2018, Gardeck appeared in all 16 games for Arizona in his debut season. He was one of four rookies who appeared in all 16 games for Arizona in '18, joining C Mason Cole, RB Chase Edmonds and LB Ezekiel Turner. Gardeck led all NFL rookies with 388 total snaps on special teams in 2018. Among all NFL players, only Jets WR Terrence Brooks (395) played more snaps on special teams last season. Gardeck finished the 2018 season with eight special teams tackles and scored his first career TD in the season finale at Seattle when he recovered a blocked punt in the end zone. It was his first TD since his senior year at Crystal Lake (IL) South High School when he returned a fumble 80 yards for a TD.

Gardeck played one season at USF after transferring from West Virginia State. In that season he was named the NSIC Newcomer of the Year and to five All-American Teams. He was selected a finalist for Cliff Harris Award (Small College Defensive Player of the Year) and nominated for the Harlon Hill Trophy as DII Player of the Year in 2017. A four-time all-league performer, including three times to the All-Mountain East squad, he finished his career with 345 career tackles, 57.5 tackles for loss, 32 sacks, nine forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and an interception. He had 11 games with double digit tackles.

He had a special season on one of the top defenses in NCAA DII in 2017 that ranked second in total defense by allowing a program-DII best 244.3 yards per game, third nationally in rushing defense at 67.8 yards per game, and second in scoring defense at 12.5 points per game, allowing just 123 total points, a program DII-best at USF. Gardeck had 14 sacks, which ranked second nationally, helping USF record seventh most sacks nationally with 40 and ranked eighth in first downs allowed with 158. He was fifth in NCAA DII with 1.17 sacks per game. Gardeck had a sack in the playoff game (24-20 loss to No. 5 Midwestern State) with his 13 solo sacks ranking second nationally. Including the 1.5 TFLs in the playoff loss, he averaged 1.8 tackles for loss per game, which ranked 13th nationally. Additionally, Gardeck's 21.0 tackles for losses of 97 yards was the fifth most in NCAA DII.

For USF Gardeck recorded a team-best 75 tackles, including two double digit tackle games and nine in the playoff loss in 2017. He led the NSIC in sacks and TFLs while also recovering a fumble, forced two fumbles and recorded a safety to clinch the 21-14 "Key to the City" game over city rival Augustana at Bob Young Field.
In his first game at USF, had a memorable performance, registering a program-DII best five sacks in a 26-7 win over Minnesota-Duluth on the road on August 31. The five-sack performance against UMD was the single-best individual sack performance in DII this year. Six times had seven tackles or more, while recording a tackle for loss in 10 of USF's 12 games. Gardeck had two or more TFLs six times and a sack in eight games with two or more sacks four times.