LOGAN — Much has been written about Dominik Eberle the football player, and for good reason.
A finalist and semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award (2017 and ‘18) — the award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker — Eberle has been nothing but elite at Utah State.
As Stacy Collins, the Aggies’ special teams coordinator put it, “He’s a talented kid who has developed into an unbelievable player.”
Eberle has shattered records while in Logan, the latest coming in Utah State’s 42-14 loss to BYU.
After the first USU touchdown of the game, Eberle, like he has done so many times before, drilled the point after attempt (PAT).
This one was special, though.
It made him the school record holder for points scored in a career (310), pushing him past former Aggie great Robert Turbin.
“That is what I am going to train for. That is what I am set on after I graduate this December. I am fully aware of my capabilities and I think I can be one of those 32 guys, and I am going to give it my best shot.” — Utah State kicker Dominik Eberle, on his NFL hopes
“That was one of the goals that I first set when I walked on here as a freshman,” Eberle said. “That was one of the records I wanted to break. When (long snapper) Brandon Pada came up to me after the first PAT and said that was it, I was like ‘Yep, that is pretty cool.’”
Due to his excellence on the field, Eberle is up for a host of postseason awards, including the Burlsworth Trophy, which is given to the most outstanding football player who began his career as a walk-on, and the Lou Groza.
And yes, a career in the NFL after this season remains very much in the offing.
“That is what I am going to train for,” Eberle said. “That is what I am set on after I graduate this December. I am fully aware of my capabilities and I think I can be one of those 32 guys, and I am going to give it my best shot.”
It should be quite the shot, too.
“He has the ability,” said Collins. “The toughest part about the NFL is there are only 32 of those jobs. Dom has the ability and he will get a shot, and I know he will make the most of that shot.”
Eberle has made the most of time at Utah State, beyond football especially.
A native of Nuremberg Germany, kind of — more on that in a bit — Eberle gives back to the local community frequently, so much so that he is up for a pair of national awards: the Wuerffel Trophy and Senior CLASS Award, both of which are all about character and service.
Eberle has worked on the Athletic Council Gender and Minorities Subcommittee, Student-Athlete Advisory Council, Sexual Assault Task Force, USU Football Youth Clinics, USU Football Women’s Clinic, USU Football Family Fun Day, Logan Pioneer Day Parade and USU Football Captain’s Council.
During the holidays, he signs up for the Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives and goes around the community collecting food for those in need.
This past Halloween, he went trick-or-treating dressed as everyone’s favorite Pokemon: Pikachu.
“It was kid friendly,” Eberle said with a laugh. “I just enjoy giving back. I don’t want to be seen as just a football player or just a person who does well on the field. I like helping people. That is just part of my nature.”
Eberle was inspired to serve by athletes himself — in his case soccer, or rather fútbol, players.
“As a kid, I always looked up to the role models, like soccer players, so I know how much it affects you,” he said. “When I go and help kids out at school, or hang out with them here or there for different events, I can see how much fun they are having.”
Speaking of fun, Eberle grew up in southern Germany.
His hometown is officially listed as Nuremberg, but he is actually from a small farming community, so small it is nearly impossible to find on a map. That town is outside the larger town of Ansbach, which in turn is outside of even larger Nuremberg.
As a child, soccer was Eberle’s sport and he was good at it — great, even.
“I played very high soccer there,” Eberle said. “I was a top prospect.”
Good enough that he was invited to participate in German national team camps, held in Unterhaching, a suburb of Munich, on many occasions.
His preferred position? Striker, inspired as he was by elite goal scorers like Thierry Henry or Alessandro Del Piero and later, during his own playing days, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“My dad always wanted me to be a center mid(fielder). He felt I had a good eye, but I just wanted to be a striker,” Eberle said. “Scoring goals was fun.”
It all came to an end, though, when on the way home from a camp his father, Güenther Eberle, broke the news that the family was moving to the United States.
“We were just getting back and that is when my dad told me we were moving to the States,” Eberle said. “I was shocked at first, but I knew I couldn’t stay in Germany.”
The experience, moving to California from Germany, has been to the benefit of many, though, including a special group of teenagers in Ogden.
During one of his many service engagements, Eberle went to Ogden to speak with a group of kids, all from a Hispanic background. His mother, Carmen Romero-Eberle, is Mexican-American, and that, coupled with his move as a teenager from Europe to the United States, allowed him to connect with the kids in a way that he won’t soon forget.
“I really liked talking to those kids,” he said. “You tell them about your transition of moving from a different country and they kind of see that you’ve been through similar things to what they are going through.”
Eberle will go through more in the near future, including his graduation from Utah State, the close of his college football career and the buildup to the 2020 NFL draft.
Whether Eberle makes it to the NFL, one thing is certain: he’ll make an impact somewhere.
After all, he already has.
Aggies on the air
Utah State (4-4, 3-1) at Fresno State (4-4, 2-2)
Bulldog Stadium, Fresno, CA
Saturday, 5 p.m. MST
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: KZNS 1280 AM