13 hours Ago By Max O'Neill
GRAND FORKS — Since the University of North Dakota's football season ended, New Rockford, North Dakota, native Bo Belquist has been training to try to live his dream of playing in the National Football League. On March 27, Belquist was busy working out at the Fighting Hawks and North Dakota State University Pro Days. ADVERTISEMENT “I just wanted to get in front of more scouts and try to get that double exposure.
They allowed me to go there and run routes,” Belquist said. “I knew they had a lot more scouts going there with Cam (Miller) and Gray Zabel. So I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to go there and showcase some of my stuff.
” Belquist said he was disappointed with his 40-yard dash time — 4.61 seconds. “I would’ve liked to have a little better times on some of the stuff, but overall it was good to get in front of some scouts and run some routes and tests,” Belquist said.
“Overall, I thought it went well.” According to each school’s athletic website, there were representatives from multiple NFL and CFL teams in attendance at each pro day. Belquist said he spoke with three or four representatives of the teams.
“It was good, mostly just asking how I thought the day would go and talking about my results and saying I should have a chance at a camp or something,” Belquist said. “It was overall good, just more small talk and getting to know background about me and certain things, not too much football-oriented stuff.” His workouts did not start there though.
Beginning in January, he was training at Kula Sports Performance in a suburb of Denver. During his time working the facility, Belquist said he increased his speed, quickness and athleticism. He also improved his explosiveness and vertical jump.
Since returning to Grand Forks, Belquist said he has been working out with eight other players who also worked out at the UND Pro Day. This spring looks different for Belquist than his previous four since he is not practicing with the Fighting Hawks anymore. ADVERTISEMENT “I think it’ll be fun couple weeks or whatever it is to get back into more football based stuff, training will be better,” Belquist said.
“It’s weird not having to practice and run around but it makes it a little bit easier to gain weight and gain muscle, not burning as much calories. It’ll be fun to get after it again.” During his five years as a Fighting Hawk, the wide receiver played in 52 games, carrying the ball four times for 23 yards while recording 271 receptions for 3,305 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Belquist also owns the Hawks' career record for receptions at the NCAA Division I level and tied the school’s record for most receiving touchdowns in a career at the Division I level. This past season, he served as one of five captains for the Fighting Hawks. Belquist is trying to be the 29th overall Fighting Hawks player to play in the NFL and the third current player alongside New Orleans Saints offensive guard Kyle Hergel and Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle Matt Waletzko.
Belquist now has to wait until the NFL Draft from April 24-26 to see where he will be starting his professional football career. Belquist said he is hoping to get picked up by a team as an undrafted free agent and work his way onto a practice squad after that. “At some point, you can’t sit and think about it too much, you gotta keep grinding and figuring out what you gotta do next, get ready for whatever opportunity comes, that you can make the most out of it,” Belquist said.
“Like I said, you can’t think about it too much, you gotta just expect that you’re gonna get a chance and if not then move on to the next part of your life.” In the lead-up to the NFL Draft, Belquist said he is sticking with the same routine he has had since January. “Just gonna keep training and go back to learning some more football type stuff, get back into the swing of lifting normally and not just specializing in certain drills, trying to get back into the grove of things,” Belquist said.
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