Trautman heading to NFL

All-American tight end Adam Trautman made University of Dayton football history April 25 when he became UD’s first nonscholarship player to be selected in the NFL draft.

Trautman, who graduated in December with a degree in electrical engineering, was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the third round.

Trautman, a 6-foot-6, 253-pound redshirt senior from Williamsburg, Michigan, was the first Flyer chosen since the Seattle Seahawks selected offensive tackle Bill Westbeld in the 11th round of the 1977 draft, the season before Dayton transitioned from scholarship to nonscholarship football.

The Flyer co-captain was UD’s Most Valuable Player and the Pioneer Football League Offensive Player of the Year this season. He is the first tight end in PFL history to be named the league’s top offensive player.

Trautman finished his Dayton career with the school record for receptions in a season (70), touchdown catches in a season (14), career receptions (178) and career touchdown catches (31). He also set the Flyer mark for touchdown catches in a game when he caught four this season against Jacksonville Oct. 5, 2019.

The Saints had Trautman ranked on their list of the top 40 college players. When he was still available late in the third round, they traded the four draft picks they had left to obtain the 105th pick in order to choose him.

Coverage in the New Orleans media was highly favorable about the choice by the Saints, who have posted 13-3 records two years in a row. One headline on Nola.com, the online publication of The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate, labeled Trautman “the potential ‘steal’ of the draft.” Another praised the Saints’ approach for “quality over quantity.” A profile of him noted that Trautman, a high school quarterback, had never caught a pass before enrolling at Dayton.

“He will now be paid to play the game,” the article read, “because he learned to be prolific catching them there.”