Semipro St. Paul Pioneers give football players chance to put pads back on
The sight of Joe Flacco celebrating remains lodged deep in the craw of Bloomington resident Jeff McGaster.
The former Northern Iowa defensive tackle had five tackles Dec. 1, 2007 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. His Panthers trailed in the FCS semifinals 32-27 with less than two minutes remaining. Flacco, then Delaware's quarterback, botched a snap. Northern Iowa recovered, but an offside penalty negated the play.
Flacco -- more famously of Super Bowl XLVII MVP lore -- scored from a yard out to clinch victory with 41 seconds left, and the Blue Hens went on to win the FCS Championship.
"That still bugs me," McGaster says seven years later, with more than a tinge of bitterness in his voice.
It would be the senior's final collegiate football game.
But not his last time in full pads.
McGaster, now 28 and still in prime condition at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, is one of a few dozen Twin Cities men who spend their spare time -- and money -- playing full-contact, semi-professional football. They call themselves the St. Paul Pioneers, they play home games at Concordia-St. Paul's Sea Foam Stadium, and their starting quarterback is a city government official.
The St. Paul Pioneers compete in the Northern Elite Football League with nine other teams from Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota.
Like McGaster, almost all of them are former college football players. Like McGaster, they've left the game, in its more organized form, behind.
But the game hasn't left them.
"Everybody's there for a reason," McGaster said, "and that's to play the game."
They also happen to be pretty darn good at it.
The Pioneers, or "P-Unit" as their players affectionately call themselves, are set to take on the Texas Bullets in the USA Bowl national championship game Jan. 17 in Daytona, Fla. There, they'll have a chance at their fourth title since 2006.
"It's fun to me, because I still enjoy it," said McGaster, a defensive lineman on the team since 2008. "The Pioneers, as our record can say, we are one of the best ones out here in Minnesota -- if not the best."
There are scores of "semi-professional" football leagues around the country. St. Paul competes in the Northern Elite Football League with nine other teams from Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota.
The Pioneers practice once a week and play on Saturdays during the spring and summer. In terms of personnel, there's really nothing professional about them; players pay a $100 team fee and are responsible for providing their own equipment, sans game uniforms.
Road trip expenses come out of players' pockets, too, even if that means flying to Florida on their own dollar.
"We're a 100-percent volunteer organization," said coach Mark Heiser, who's also the head football coach at Patrick Henry High School. "Everybody volunteers, and all the money we bring in goes back into team. All of our players have a full-time job, this is just a side hobby to stay involved with full-contact football."
And a demanding one at that.
It's a roster comprised of teachers, financial consultants, welders, police officers, writers, mailmen, etc. McGaster works security at Patrick Henry and with youth at the South Minneapolis Boys and Girls Club. Quarterback Cleveland McCoy played Division I football at South Carolina State and took part in a Lions camp as a wide receiver.
Today, though, he's the adult program supervisor for the city of Fridley.
Players work out on their own; McGaster's training regimen consists of late-night L.A. Fitness sessions and Insanity workouts in his basement.
The Pioneers were founded in 2002. Today, they're a non-profit with 501(c)3 status that also engages in volunteer work throughout St. Paul and the surrounding area. In addition to player fees, corporate sponsorships are required to keep the franchise afloat.
The system is working, says Heiser, who volunteers between 20 and 30 hours of his time to the team each week.
"There are a couple things I can identify," Heiser, the team's coach since 2008, said when asked about the Pioneers' dynastic run. "Our board of directors does a great job running the organization. We do things very organized, and we're an organization that does things top-notch. We also have really good players, committed players. Consistency is big when you get guys that come back and play multiple years."
Count McGaster among that last factor. After a year away from football following his UNI days, he caught wind of the semipro juggernaut lurking in St. Paul, tried out and has become a staple on the defensive line.
"It's exciting," said McGaster, who still keeps a photo of himself hitting Flacco in the 2007 FCS semis. "I've played in two national championships with the Pioneers, and we won both. I want to be able to say I'm undefeated in national championships since I've been on the team."
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