He took a struggling program and made it a national Cinderella story. He guided a mediocre Northwestern football squad to one of its best seasons in history and a share of the 2000 Big Ten title.

He was projected to be a late-round selection in the 2002 NFL draft, and in making the Wildcats champions, he had become what he always wanted to be — an exceptional college football player.

Fast-forward to March 2004. Zak Kustok’s short-lived NFL career is all but dead.

After two years of tough workouts and two unsuccessful attempts at making an NFL regular-season roster, the man whose life used to be football hasn’t thrown a pigskin in seven months. Kustok has exchanged his workout gear for business attire and taken a job with the Chicago Board of Trade.

Without notice, the quarterback gets a call from his agent about his hometown team, the Chicago Bears. They want him to try out for a third-string spot.

A dream come true, right? Maybe. But it could be another heartbreaking transaction waiting to happen. And the line between the two possibilities is just too thin.

Draft-day Disappointment

Kustok vividly remembers the days leading up to the 2002 NFL draft.

“I was down in New Orleans at a training camp, and I had heard that I could go anywhere between the fourth round and free agency,” Kustok said. “I was hoping to be selected, but I was expecting the worst so that I wouldn’t be disappointed.”

In the second day of the draft, at least three teams promised Kustok they would pick him.

First, the Buffalo Bills said they were interested. But the acquisition of quarterback Drew Bledsoe from the New England Patriots ended Kustok’s prospects of playing in Buffalo.

After the Miami Dolphins promised Kustok a selection and failed to follow through, the Pittsburg Steelers told the NU grad they would select him in the final round if he was still

available.

But as UNLV’s Ahmad Miller was selected by the Houston Texans with the 261st and final pick, “That was when I learned that I can’t believe what anybody says,” Kustok said.

After the draft, the Dolphins decided to give Kustok a shot. The quarterback earned a tryout and beat out former UCLA star Cade McNown for the third-string spot.

Coaches told Kustok he would remain a Dolphin for the rest of the year, but upper management sent him packing in the final cut before the regular season.

Kustok was beginning to learn what his college roommate, former NU tackle Leon Brockmeier, now knows.

“The NFL is a cutthroat business,” said Brockmeier, who played eight months with the Steelers before shattering his ankle. “They don’t care what you think. It’s their job or yours, and they’re going to get the best players in order to save their own jobs.”

Trading in

One year out of school, Kustok still hadn’t seen a down of regular-season action, but he was given an opportunity to play with the Green Bay Packers. It was with the Packers that Kustok saw a little dream realized.

“I was playing and practicing with Brett Favre, a guy I grew up watching and had posters of on my walls,” Kustok said. “Now I was sitting in meetings with him and going out with him, having a beer or two.”

But four months after his February 2003 signing, Kustok found himself in another difficult position. With the opportunity to pick up Cincinnati Bengals’ veteran Akili Smith, the Packers waived Kustok.

“After I was waived by the Packers, I remembered that I told myself in school I would give the NFL two years,” Kustok said. “Growing up, my goal was to play college football, not necessarily in the NFL. I loved watching college football, and that was what I always wanted to do.”

Kustok had an economics degree from NU, and pursued a position at the Chicago Board of Trade. He began trading in December 2003.

The college star’s NFL career seemingly had come to an end. But Kustok had learned a thing or two about professional football.

“The whole NFL thing isn’t quite as glamorous as everyone makes it out to be,” Kustok said. “Each day you have to prove yourself or risk losing your job.”

A new hope

Kustok was in Florida in March to watch his sister compete for DePaul in the women’s NCAA basketball tournament when he got a call from his agent, Mike McCartney.

McCartney spoke with members of the Chicago Bears’ organization and got Kustok an invitation to a mini-camp. The offer from the Bears ended Kustok’s retirement.

“Growing up, being from Chicago and watching the Bears, this was an opportunity that I really couldn’t pass up,” Kustok said. “And it’s not like I’m doing it for free. I’m getting money to do it.”

Kustok was able to take time off from the Board of Trade to pursue his dream. He clicked with Bears offensive coordinator Terry Shea, who ran an offense similar to the system Kustok had learned earlier in Miami.

Kustok earned a two-year contract and a spot on the Bears’ preseason roster — but neither of them were guaranteed.

“Zak is the type of person who’s really dedicated and puts a lot of heart into whatever he’s doing,” said Molly Kamp, an NU senior and Kustok’s girlfriend of three years. “Obviously there have been a lot of highs and lows throughout the whole process, but he has a really positive attitude. Sometimes it surprises me how positive he is.”

‘zak’s frustrated’

On May 2, the Bears released Kustok.

Two years after his disappointing draft, a talented class of 2004 nixed his chances of holding a roster spot. The Bears selected former Ohio State quarterback Craig Krenzel with a fifth-round pick in the draft and signed former Boise State quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie on the same day they waived Kustok.

“Zak’s frustrated,” McCartney said. “He’s been a gym rat, and he has quickly learned the offense. He has been every bit the competitor and student of the game that the coaches wanted.

“It’s one thing when you know you’ve been beaten out by another player. That’s not the case here. He’s been told by people within the Bears’ organization that he was better than the quarterback they signed,

Dinwiddie.”

After three years of training and tryouts, Kustok has yet to see a spot on a regular-season roster.

“In three years, he’s only been out there in a t-shirt and shorts,” McCartney said. “That’s tough to handle for a young guy.”

But at least he had a great college career.