Sheldon Napastuk

Napastuk played college football for the Iowa State Cyclones of Iowa State University. He redshirted the 1992 season, and was a four-year letterman from 1993 to 1996.^[1] In 1994, his leg was cut open by a screw on a tackling dummy.^[5] Napastuk said "I looked down and there was a flap of skin open and you could see fat tissue."^[5] Napastuk suffered an 100% tear of his right pectorial muscle in 1995 but still managed to play in 10 of 11 games.^[6]

Napastuk was selected by the Edmonton Eskimos in the third round, with the 25th overall pick, of the 1996 CFL draft despite previously declaring that he still wanted to complete his college eligibility.^[1][6] After finishing his college career, he attended training camp with the Eskimos in 1997 but was released before the start of the regular season.^[7]

Napastuk signed with the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1998 and was briefly converted to offensive linemen before being released before the start of the season again.^[7]

Napastuk was signed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL in August 1999, and converted back to defensive line.^[7] He had been working at a hot dog stand in Saskatoon prior to signing with the Roughriders.^[2] After the 2001 season, he had a tryout with the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League but was not signed.^[4] Napastuk dressed in 56 games overall for the Roughriders from 1999 to 2002.^[1]

Napastuk became a free agent after the 2002 season, and signed with the Calgary Stampeders on February 25, 2003.^[7] He dressed in 70 games for Calgary from 2003 to 2006, and earned CFL West All-Star honors for the 2005 season.^[1][8] He retired from the CFL on May 23, 2007.^[7] Napastuk finished his CFL career with totals of 126 games dressed, 157 tackles on defence, 23 sacks, one forced fumble, five fumble recoveries, and eight pass breakups.^[1]