Eric Decker carries over success from the Gophers to the Broncos

Eric Decker wasn’t on anybody’s radar six years ago when Glen Mason gave him a shot on the Gophers football squad.

Now, the No. 1 receiver for the Denver Broncos and the go-to target of Tim Tebow couldn’t escape the spotlight if he tried.

Decker made his return to the Twin Cities this past weekend when the Broncos defeated the Minnesota Vikings 35-32 in a thriller at the Metrodome.

He recorded only two catches for 25 yards Sunday, but Denver (7-5) won its fifth-straight game behind another fourth-quarter comeback to move into a tie with the Oakland Raiders for first place in the AFC West.

“That’s the one good thing about this team right now — the mentality that if it’s close in the fourth we’re going to find a way to win,” Decker said after the game Sunday. “That trust is really in this locker room — coach [John] Fox has done a good job of making that nucleus up and making us believe.”

Decker, a three-sport athlete at Rocori High School in Cold Spring, Minn., did not have an easy road to get where he is now.

He was not heavily recruited out of high school, as the Gophers were the only Division I program that showed any interest in him, according to Mason, Minnesota’s football coach at the time.

“Basically we were the only school that was recruiting Eric,” Mason said. “I still remember the night I drove up there, and I had a home visit and offered him a scholarship, and he took it. I left and on the way home I called one of my coaches, I said, ‘Well, Eric committed to us. I hope he’s good.’”

Mason later received some reassurance.

“John Gagliardi from St. John’s called me and said, ‘Gosh dang, you got a great one there,’” Mason said. “I said, ‘Well I hope he’s a great one for us.’

Nothing against St. John’s, but there’s a big difference between the level of competition with St. John’s and the Big Ten. But you could see as soon as he stepped on campus he was going to be a great one.”

Decker flourished at the collegiate level and said his lack of recruitment from big name programs fueled his fire.

“Being the underdog, it made me work harder,” Decker said. “I was either going to Minnesota or St. John’s, and thank God Glen Mason gave me a scholarship to Minnesota, or who knows where I would be.”

In his first year with the Gophers, Decker made an immediate impact. He ended his freshman campaign with 26 catches, 378 yards and three touchdowns — and he was only getting started.

“He had good size, good speed, he had excellent hands and he was just a natural running routes,” Mason said. “It was just a matter of learning the system and adapting to the different speed and level of competition.”

Over the next two seasons, Decker emerged as the No. 1 receiver for the Gophers and imbued his name in the upper echelon of pass-catchers in the nation.

He nearly tripled his stats the following year when he caught 67 passes for 909 yards and nine touchdowns.

Decker followed up his monster sophomore season with an even more impressive junior year.

He posted a Minnesota-record 84 receptions in 2008. He also amassed 1,074 yards and scored eight touchdowns. For his efforts, Decker was named First-Team All-Big Ten and earned All-American honorable mention honors that season.

His spectacular numbers raised expectations for his senior year with the Gophers.

Decker was more than up to the challenge — at least for eight games.

He had 50 receptions, 758 yards and five touchdowns through the first eight games, but then hit a roadblock in a game against Ohio State that derailed his senior season.

Decker suffered from a Lisfranc injury, which is a tear of the ligament that holds the first two toes in place. It prematurely ended his final season with the Gophers.

Decker finished his Minnesota career with 227 receptions, 3,119 yards, 25 career touchdowns and only dropped three passes in the 354 times he was targeted.

Decker also played baseball for the Gophers. The left-handed hitting outfielder was useful on the diamond, as well.

“It’s hard enough to be proficient, let alone star in one sport at the Big Ten level. But to be a star in both sports was truly amazing,” Mason said.

Decker batted .329 with three home runs and 28 runs batted in during his sophomore baseball season.

He had nearly identical stats in his junior season, when he batted .319, blasted four home runs and drove in 25 runs.

Decker was selected in the 39th round by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2008 MLB Draft and again in the 27th round by the Minnesota Twins in 2009, but the NFL was where he belonged.

Decker’s draft stock fell after his Lisfranc surgery, but the Broncos still picked him in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

Thus, he had to make a decision between the two sports.

“Both sports were good to me,” Decker said. “I loved baseball very much, but I knew football had a better future.”

The foot injury that ended his college career prematurely lingered to the beginning of his pro days.

“It ended my college career and kind of went all the way up to training camp,” Decker said. “I didn’t get the offseason to prepare to run at all and when I got into training camp I wasn’t sure how it was going to hold up. I was mentally weak where I didn’t trust it. I didn’t have confidence in myself.”

He had a minimal impact in his rookie season in Denver and attributed some of that struggle to his foot injury.

Decker finished with just six receptions for 106 yards in limited action, though he did lead the team with 556 kickoff-return yards and tied for third on the Broncos with nine special-teams tackles.

“Physically I wasn’t in the best shape, so I think that was part of it,” Decker said. “Mentally, I didn’t trust myself physically.

“It was a lot more mental, because this game is about confidence and mental toughness and I didn’t have it last year.”

Decker appears to have regained his confidence.

He worked out and caught passes with All-Pro wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald in the offseason. Because of that, Decker said he tries to mimic Fitzgerald’s work ethic on and off the field.

“I really look up to him, because to be the best he works like he’s an underdog as well,” Decker said. “That’s the best thing about him — his mentality to always get better, and that’s what I want to do.”

He has done just that in his second year in the NFL and has materialized into a top-receiving threat for Tebow in Denver.

“He’s a great kid, great player,” Tebow said. “He steps up every game and makes huge plays.”

Decker had two touchdown grabs against the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, hauled in a 56-yard bomb for a touchdown that proved to be the difference against the Kansas City Chiefs and caught a 39-yard reception on Denver’s game-tying drive against San Diego two weeks ago.

“It’s night and day from this year because [my injury] is fully recovered. I had a great offseason, and I know the playbook,” Decker said. “I’m just able to go out and play football again and not think so much, which is what I was doing last year.”

Decker has 39 receptions, 552 yards and a team-leading eight touchdowns after Sunday’s game to go along with a 90-yard, punt-return touchdown in the first game of the season.

Tebow said the way Decker was able to battle back from his injury is a testament to his character.

“I’m so happy for his success because of how he works, how he treats people, how he lives his life,” Tebow said. “I’m so proud of him.”

Decker has played a crucial role in the current five-game win streak that has the Broncos tied atop their division.

Decker has also established a close-knit friendship with fellow wideout Demaryius Thomas.

Both players were picked by the Broncos in the 2010 NFL Draft, hired the same agent and then worked out together in Arizona, Thomas said.

“Once we went to — I think it was a rookie symposium or something — we came up with our name ‘Salt and Pepper,’” Thomas said. “We never could live up to our name.”

Thomas said they might go back to that nickname now that Thomas is catching passes and Decker is a budding star.

Thomas had struggled this season, but had the best game of his career against the Vikings when he caught four passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

Now the key is consistency for the Broncos, who have four games left in the season and are right in the thick of the playoff hunt.

“We’re back in the race,” Decker said. “It’s a four-game race to the finish, and that’s all we’re focused on — Chicago at home next week.”