Football | 10/13/2015 9:10:00 AM
Moon Township, Pa. – Eight former student-athletes of the
Robert Morris University football team were named to the Northeast Conference's 20th Anniversary Team as announced by the league this past weekend.
RMU's eight selections to the All-Time Team, which is presented by
Task Force Security, were the most obtained by one school. In fact, no other program, past or present, placed more than four of its players on the team.
The eight Colonials chosen to the team are: offensive linemen Hank Fraley (1997-99), defensive lineman Ray Gensler (2004-06), quarterback Tim Levcik (1998-2001), offensive lineman Mark Leyenaar (1998-2001), return specialist Tyjuan Massey (2002-05), defensive lineman Nolan Nearhoof (2009-12), linebacker James Noel (2002-05) and punter Nick Schirtzinger (2007-10).
In an attempt to honor the men who made the first 20 years of NEC Football so memorable, the conference office devised a selection process aimed at naming the top players at each position from the league's first two decades.
The position-by-position composition style of the All-Time Team mirrors the current setup of the annual All-NEC Team. The team was selected through a vote of a specially-formed blue-ribbon panel comprised of both journalists and league administrators.
Fraley was a three-year starter for Robert Morris on the offensive line and appeared in 142 games in 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns and St. Louis Rams. A three-time All-NEC selection at offensive tackle, he is one of only two Colonial football student-athletes to have his jersey number retired, as his No. 75 was enshrined prior to RMU's game against Sacred Heart on Sept. 22, 2001. Fraley was the starting center for five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, playing in four NFC Championship games and starting in Super Bowl XXXIX. Fraley was inducted in the Robert Morris Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006 and is the only football student-athlete to be inducted into the NEC Hall of Fame. He was three-time Mid-Major All-American as chosen by
Don Hansen's National Football Weekly Gazette.
Gensler capped his career with an astounding 2006 season in which he was named an All-American by multiple publications. He posted 65 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in his senior campaign—the latter two marks led the league while his sack total has remained a single-season school record to this day. His work in 2006 helped Robert Morris lead all of I-AA in total defense as the Colonials allowed 228.36 yards per game. Gensler, who was also a two-time Academic All-American, concluded his career with 183 tackles, 36.0 tackles for loss and 19.0 sacks, the last of which was a school record when he left the program.
Arguably the greatest quarterback to don a Robert Morris uniform, Levcik owns almost every career passing record in the RMU record book. He owns career records for completions (537), attempts (970), passing yards (7,222) and touchdown passes (76). His 22 touchdown passes as a senior in 2001 stand as the single-season school mark, and he owns three of the top six totals for passing yards in a game. Levcik earned All-NEC honors in each of his four seasons and was named NEC Offensive Player of the Year in both 2000 and 2001. Levcik, who was also the 1998 NEC Offensive Newcomer of the Year, led the Colonials on three game-winning drives while guiding RMU to a perfect 10-0 mark in 2000. He was inducted into the RMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.
Leyenaar was a four-year starter on the offensive line for Robert Morris, playing both tackle and center. He helped guide the Colonials to a pair of I-AA mid-major national championships in 1999 and 2000 according to
Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette. During his career, Leyenaar was an anchor for an offensive line that helped RMU win 17 consecutive games, the longest winning streak in school history. As a freshman in 1998, Leyenaar played tackle for a team that established school records for rushing yards per game (187.3) and average yards per carry (4.96). Leyenaar earned spots on the All-Northeast Conference First Team in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He was named a Mid-Major All-American in each of his final two seasons. Leyenaar is set to be inducted into the RMU Athletic Hall of Fame in February 2016.
Massey was a dangerous weapon for RMU as both a wide receiver and a return man and earned Mid-Major All-America honors as a result. He led the league in kick return average in two of his final three seasons, including averaging over 30 yards on 20 kick returns in 2005. That helped Massey lead the NEC in all-purpose yards in his senior campaign with 1,698. Massey earned three All-NEC accolades and sits third in RMU history in career all-purpose yards (3,748). Massey returned 49 punts for 342 yards in his career and brought back 46 kickoffs for 1,221 yards. Massey, who is one of four Colonials ever to return a kickoff for a touchdown, also holds single-season (899) and career (2,119) records at RMU for receiving yards.
Nearhoof rewrote the Robert Morris and NEC record books in his illustrious career. He finished his four years with 26.5 sacks, a figure that not only blew past the previous top mark at RMU, but was also good enough to move him into the top spot in NEC history at the time of his graduation. He notched 36 career tackles for loss, a mark that ranks among the top five all-time at RMU, while posting 213 overall tackles, the most among any Colonial defensive linemen that played his entire career since the NEC was formed. The three-time Academic All-American led the league and ranked sixth nationally in sacks per game in 2012. Nearhoof was a three-time All-NEC honoree and was chosen as an All-American in 2012.
Noel is one of the most prolific tacklers in FCS history and has the resume to back it up. The four-time All-NEC honoree collected a school-record 437 tackles in 41 games and presently ranks sixth all-time in tackles per game (10.66) in FCS history. He was named NEC Defensive Rookie of the Year after posting 108 tackles, including 50 solo, in 2002. He was named a first-team All-American and tabbed NEC Defensive Player of the Year after collecting 115 stops two years later. Noel notched 40.5 career tackles for loss, tied for the school record, while contributing 16.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. His 437 hits place him more than 100 clear of the second-place Colonial in the all-time tackles list.
Schirtzinger has a strong argument as the top punter in RMU history. He led the NEC in punting twice and claimed all-league awards in three of his four seasons. Schirtzinger owns three of the top four single-season punting averages along with the top career punting average (40.39) in Colonial history. The Mid-Major All-American tallied at least three punts downed inside the opponents' 20-yard line on seven occasions in his career. Schirtzinger helped RMU to the 2010 NEC title by averaging 41.0 yards per punt and downing 18 inside the 20-yard line while having only six go for touchbacks. He had 10 boots of at least 50 yards that season without having one blocked.
Robert Morris was the only school to have at least three student-athletes recognized on the defensive side of the ball.
Active players were not eligible for the 20th Anniversary Team. Former players who failed to obtain at least two varsity letters during their NEC careers were not considered.
The league is saluting members of the All-Time Team throughout the duration of its "#NECFB on ESPN3" schedule.
