MoCo natives Stefon and Trevon Diggs have dominated the NFL this year. The brothers, who grew up in Gaithersburg, were both recently selected as Pro Bowlers for this NFL season.

Stefon grew up in Gaithersburg and attended Good Counsel High School in Olney, where he played football and ran track. He recorded 810 yards receiving with 23 touchdowns as a junior in 2010, and was runner-up for the Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year. As a senior, he recorded 770 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns, and racked up 277 rushing yards and three more touchdowns on the ground. He was named to the All-Metro team by The Washington Post both seasons.

Following his senior season, he was named MVP of the U.S. Army All-American Junior Combine in 2011 and was invited to play in the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.A consensus five-star recruit, Diggs was viewed as one of the best players in the nation. He was considered the second-best wide receiver recruit in the nation and was rated as the No.1 recruit in the state of Maryland by Rivals.com. Though he had scholarship offers from Florida, USC, Cal, Ohio State, and Auburn, among others, Diggs chose to stay close to home and committed to the University of Maryland on February 10, 2012.

In his three seasons at Maryland, Diggs had 150 receptions for 2,227 yards and 14 touchdowns. During his freshman year at College Park, he recorded the second-most all-purpose yards in school history with 1,896. He finished his three-year college career with 2,227 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns, as well as two kick-return touchdowns. He was selected in the fifth round with the 146th overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2015 NFL Draft, and signed a four-year, $2.5 million deal that included a guaranteed $227,000 signing bonus.

Diggs became a full-time starter for the Vikings midway through his rookie year despite his late-round draft status. In 2018, he received a 5-year contract extension, playing two more seasons in Minnesota before being traded to Buffalo in 2020. With the Bills, he became the fastest receiver to surpass 100 catches with his new team and broke Eric Moulds‘ franchise record for receiving yards in a season. Diggs led all NFL receivers in 2020 with 127 receptions and 1,535 receiving yards. He already has over 1,000 receiving yards on 82 catches with 8 touchdowns this season for the 8-6 Bills.

Trevon Diggs was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2020 draft. The Gaithersburg native currently leads the NFL with 10 interceptions.

Trevon played for the Wootton Patriots before transferring to Avalon. At Avalon, Diggs played on both sides of the ball and became a four-star recruit and was two-time All-Met as a wide receiver.

After his time at Avalon Diggs continued his academic and athletic career at the University of Alabama. By his junior year in 2018, Diggs had become a full-time starter for Coach Nick Saban’s defense until he broke his foot midseason, ending the 2018 season with 20 tackles, one interception, six pass breakups in six games.

By his senior year, Diggs started 12 games and posted 37 tackles and two fumble recoveries. (including a 100-yard score). During his senior year, he was a third-team AP All-American and second-team All-SEC.

As a rookie, Diggs played in 12 games and started 12 of them. He had 58 tackles, one forced fumble, a sack, and 3 interceptions. This year, his second in the league, he has 10 interceptions, 38 tackles, and 19 passes defended.

Photos courtesy of the NFL.

You may have seen the term “NIL,” which stands for “name, image, and likeness.” Rule changes have allowed college athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness.

Kentucky’s star pass rusher, Josh Paschal, took advantage of this as he was hired by pediatric dentist Dr. Danny Steckler to hilariously help communicate the importance of oral health.

Paschal is a Prince George’s County native who attended school and played football at Good Counsel in Olney, where he was ranked among the top defensive ends in the country.

In the commercial, he knocks a sugary beverage out of a child’s hand in the opening scene and yells, “Don’t be bringing these sugar-coated lies into my house,” while wagging his finger in the child’s face.

He also reaches through a car window to grab sugary snacks from an unsuspecting driver who says he isn’t even going to the dentist (but likely will be soon after his encounter with the pass rusher).

It hasn’t been all fun and games for Paschal, who has overcome plenty in his NCAA football career. After a strong freshman season in 2017, he was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma lesion that was discovered on his foot, in August of 2018.

It was a rare, aggressive form of skin cancer called acral lentiginous melanoma, or ALM. And it needed to be treated immediately. Josh had multiple surgeries on his foot to remove the cancerous growth and replace the damaged tissue.

On November 17, 2018, barely four months removed from the operating room, Josh suited up for the final home game of the season. The rest is history, as he has made a name for himself and is likely to be drafted in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Featured photo courtesy of ESPN

Take a look at the commercial below:

It’s been great working with Steckler Pediatric Dentistry (@kykidsdentist) and the kids in the community with their oral health! I am the #DefenderOfDecay! @creativecaddie #ad pic.twitter.com/HT8OGg2Bx2

— Joshua Paschal (@JPaschalx) November 23, 2021

We are saddened to report that Omari Israel, 36, has passed away.

Earlier this evening Good Counsel Basketball posted a farewell message to the local basketball star.

”Good Counsel Basketball has lost a special family member. Omari’s personality was even bigger than his 6-8 frame. This one hurts…. you’ll be dearly missed big fella.”

Israel was a Rockville native and the first four-year starter in the history of Our Lady of Good Counsel HS. He scored more than 1,500 career points and averaged 10.0 rebounds over those four years.

As a team captain his senior year, his season was cut short after suffering a torn left ACL and undergoing surgery in January 2003, but still earned honorable mention All-Met honors that season.

He averaged 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots as a junior after averaging 15.0 points and 8.3 rebounds with 70 blocks as a sophomore and was named second team All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference following each of those seasons.

In 2003 he was selected to participate in the Charm City Classic, but did not play due to injury. He was a member of the D.C. Assault AAU team and led his team to the Charlie Weber Tournament championship which was held at the University of Maryland prior to his senior season.

He went on to play college basketball at Notre Dame, where he missed his first year (03-04’) rehabbing the knee injury he suffered during his senior year of high school.

The following year, 2004-05, he played in 19 games for the Fighting Irish and average 1.4 points per game and 1.8 rebounds per game.

Isreal transferred to Loyola for his junior and senior years, where he averaged over 8 points per game and almost 6 rebounds per game in his two seasons there.

Our condolences go out to his friends and family.

UPDATE: Marty Hurney has been hired as a high ranking official in the front office, but the general manager position is going to former Washington cornerback, Martin Mayhew.

New Washington Football Team Executive Vice President of Football/Player Personnel, Marty Hurney, Is From Wheaton and Graduated from Good Counsel

Various news outlets reported that Marty Hurney will be the next general manager of the Washington Football Team. Washington clarified that Hurney will be the team’s Executive Vice President of Football/Player Personnel.

Hurney is a MoCo native. He’s from Wheaton and graduated from Good Counsel High School, which was also in Wheaton when he attended.

Hurney is best known for his time as the Carolina Panthers General Manager from 2002-2012 and again from 2017-2020 but got his start working in the public relations department for Washington back in 1988 when the franchise was coming off of its second Super Bowl win and was owned by Jack Kent Cooke.

Hurney was General Manager for the Panthers when they made it to the Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos in 2015, losing 10-24.

Some notable draft picks for the Carolina Panthers under Hurney’s watch include; Cam Newton, Luke Keuchly, Josh Norman, Greg Hardy, Jon Beason, Ryan Kalil, and Julius Peppers.

The Washington Football Team may not be tearing it up this year, but they find themselves within striking distance for a division crown amidst a group of teams that have underwhelmed.

One of the big reasons for the WFT’s success this season has been their defensive play; one of their biggest stars this season has been Kendall Fuller, a 2013 graduate of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, MD.

Fuller is tied for the league lead with four interceptions, and has been rated this season as highly as the 4th best cornerback on Pro Football Focus, a well-respected analytical grading system in the NFL.

Though he was born in Baltimore, Fuller accelerated his football development at Good Counsel while also competing in track and field.

Kendall rose through high-school football’s recruiting ranks to become a top-10 ranked player in his graduating class. After attending Virginia Tech, he was drafted by Washington in the 3rd round of the 2016 NFL draft. After impressing early on in his first couple of seasons, he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in the deal that would bring Alex Smith to Washington.

The trade to Kansas City worked out pretty well for Kendall, who ended up winning a Super Bowl in 2019 after intercepting a pass in the dying embers of the game. After becoming a champion, Fuller decided to come back to where it all began, signing a four year deal with the Washington Football Team.

Public-domain photo courtesy of All-Pro Reels.