Cody Mauch: Small Town Hero
By: Ross Blilie
05-04-23
Most people know that the 2023 NFL Draft was recently held in Kansas City, Missouri. If you didn't know or if you forgot it was April 27 - 29. For an avid fan of the NFL, it was an exciting time to watch what happened. For one player in particular, Cody Mauch, who played for the North Dakota State University Bison from 2019-2023, he had a very exciting and stressful two days.
Cody Mauch grew up in Hankinson, ND. This is an interesting part of his path to the NFL. I grew up on a farm in between Kindred, ND and Colfax, ND. I attended Richland High School in Colfax and played football for Kindred-Richland from 1996-1999. When I played basketball, it was for Richland. One of the opponents my school played against was Hankinson. While I don't know Cody personally, I played basketball against some boys with the last name of Mauch and they were very talented.
I digress; this story isn't about me or how my alma mater high school competed against Hankinson in sports. This is a story about Mr. Mauch getting drafted to the NFL in the second round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With the Bucs drafting Mauch from NDSU, that makes him the fifteenth straight Bison player to be drafted into the NFL. WDAY Sports Director Dom Izzo discussed Mauch in his recent Hot Mic segment. He believes that the 2019 Bison team is the greatest Bison team in college football history. His reason for this opinion is that not only are they an undefeated team with a national championship, but they have the most NFL draftees since 2019. That's pretty impressive for a college town. Compare that to some of the bigger schools such as Georgia and Alabama and really, it's not even close. NDSU is becoming a football school known for its players getting drafted into the NFL.
The Tampa Bay Bucs got a good deal in picking Mauch. With his size, speed, and footwork agility, he will make an impact right away in the post Tom Brady era( at least that’s what the experts say). If you look at his highlight reel, you will notice how his feet stay parallel to his shoulders and how quickly he can get to the second level. His pancake blocks allow the quarterback to be able to make a good decision within his progressions or take off and run for the first down.
In my opinion, I agree with Izzo. Every time I have tuned into a Bison game, I have found it to be very exciting. Add in the fact that a small town kid from North Dakota made it to the NFL and it's exciting to hear. I really hope that Mauch does well in his NFL career.
Ross Blilie is an avid NFL fan of the Minnesota Vikings since the 1990’s. He loves to talk about the NFL. He also enjoys attending the University Of North Dakota Men’s Hockey games in Grand Forks, ND. His hobbies also include bowling with his wife and friends, narrating audiobooks, fishing, and even sitting by a campfire with family at Lake Blackduck in Minnesota. You can find Ross on twitter & Instagram @Rossthenarrator.
