Thursday night in downtown Maryville it was impossible to walk from one end of Burny's Sports Bar to the other without bumping into at least a couple of professional football players.

Jamaica Rector, wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, was swarmed by friends and alumni wanting to chat him up about football. Then there was Seth Wand, offensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders, whose 6-7, 327-pound body filled the bar's door frame and had him sticking out in the throng. Xavier Omon, running back drafted by Buffalo in the sixth round of this year's draft, was checked at the door for not having any identification. Dave Tollefson, Giants defensive end, sported a trendy Affliction shirt as he held his drink and talked to friends.

He would have blended into the college crowd seamlessly, except there was an impressive piece of hardware weighing his hand down. It was the diamond saturated ring he received as a member of the Super Bowl XLII championship team.

While each of these guys' careers sent them all across the country, one thing brought them all back to Maryville on a warm June night ... the Bearcat Classic.

The Bearcat Classic is a two part golf tournament hosted annually at Mozingo Lake Golf Course in an effort to raise money for the football team. It has turned into somewhat of a Bearcats family reunion. That gathering is boasting more and more professional football players each year. Tjeerdsma, Northwest Missouri State football coach since 1994, said it's a good time to catch up with his professional players.

"We keep pretty close contact," Tjeerdsma said. "Four of the (six) that are in the NFL will be here Friday."

Tjeerdsma is starting to compile a rather impressive list of players who have passed through his program and went on to play football professionally. Wand, Rector, Omon and Tollefson are on that list along with numerous others including Mike Peterson (Packers) and Steve Williams (Panthers).

What makes that list truly impressive is the fact that Northwest is a Division II school in a small town that's "in the middle of nowhere" as one patron described it. Try telling that to the scouts.

"One thing that we can assure any recruit that we talk to and anybody that has the possibility of being an NFL player — the NFL scouts know where Maryville is at," Tjeerdsma said."

Having numerous players currently on active NFL rosters definitely gives the Bearcats a leg up on recruiting. However, professional-caliber athletes haven't always flocked to Northwest.

First Tjeerdsma took a winless program and built it into a powerhouse that's almost always playing on a national stage. This helps attract some of the athletes who are in between Division I and Division II talent.

"I think that's the unique thing about Division II," Tjeerdsma said. "The guy who's a blue chip athlete in high school, you're not going to get at Division II because they'll have Division I offers.

"You get young men that have possibilities."

It's up to Northwest's coaching staff to tap into those possibilities and push the athletes to reach their full potential.

"I think our job here is to get them to believe in themselves and to make the commitment that's necessary to fulfill some of those possibilities," Tjeerdsma said. "That's how we end up getting guys that can play at the NFL level."

That starts by letting these athletes know that if they want to make it to the next level they'll have to work harder, be better and show the scouts more than their Division I counterparts. Unparalleled work ethic is something the Bearcats take pride in year after year.

"The work ethic and the commitment that's been established here through our strength program and through our team tradition, I think that has really carried forward and really helped some of these guys enhance their opportunities to make it at the next level," Tjeerdsma said.

Dedication helps those diamonds in the rough shine a little bit brighter. Tjeerdsma said it helped turn Wand from a small-town prospect into a third-round draft pick and starting NFL tackle.

"I think Seth Wand was one that we were really pleased with," Tjeerdsma said. "He came from a small high school and definitely had a lot to learn. He definitely had the athletic ability but he had so much to learn about the game of football.

"He really took that on and really excelled."

Once in a while, a Division II school gets lucky and knows their recruits have a shot to make it on the next level. Tjeersma saw that kind of potential when he was recruiting Rector.

"Jamaica was one when you saw his high school highlight tape you said 'You know what, if anybody's going to have a chance to make it in the NFL he's probably one of them,' because he was so gifted," Tjeerdsma said.

Whether they were naturally gifted or have molded themselves into the nation's elite football players, the Bearcats' current roster continues to boast NFL prospects.

Tjeerdsma expects the scouts to be sitting in the stands again this season ensuring that Northwest's NFL infusion is a continuing trend.