As Ethan Greenfield runs, the rest of the program follows. Photo by Dan Hunter, d3photography.com

By Greg Thomas
D3sports.com

ANNAPOLIS – “It’s been a long five years, man.”

Those were Ethan Greenfield’s words as the 2022 Gagliardi Trophy winner sat down at the champion’s news conference, about 45 minutes after the conclusion of North Central’s 28-21 victory over Mount Union in Stagg Bowl XLIX. 

Greenfield’s words weren’t words of exasperation – they seemed to come from a place of reflection and contemplation. Indeed, during Greenfield’s 5-year career in Naperville, his Cardinals have made the jump from being a team which had difficulty getting past the second round, to winning Walnut & Bronze twice in three seasons. 

• Recap: North Central hangs on for second title
• Box score | Photo gallery
• 2022 D3football.com All-America team
• End-of-season podcast: Players of the Year, our wish list

While Greenfield has had much of the spotlight this week with the Gagliardi Trophy announcement and his second turn as the Stagg Bowl’s Most Outstanding Player, North Central’s success isn’t tied to Greenfield’s individual excellence. Greenfield will be the first to tell anyone who asks, that his success is a product of his teammates' effort and the program that has been built at North Central.

Greenfield is quick to share his individual accolades with his teammates. In 2019, Greenfield famously wanted to re-gift his Most Outstanding Player award to his offensive line. In 2022, he wants to share the Gagliardi Trophy with his Cardinal brothers: “I can't do anything without the people who I work with. Without my offensive line absolutely working their butts off every day to make me the way I am,” Greenfield said.

“Same with our tight ends and Luke (Lehnen) and our receivers and even guys on the defense. Going against them in summer camp and practices every day makes you a much better football player because they're that good.” Greenfield noted that he talked to the team after the Gagliardi Trophy announcement as well. “I wanted to make sure that it's not just about me because it isn't. Because I didn't do that by myself. I can't do that by myself.”

One of Greenfield’s teammates, linebacker and fellow fifth year senior Sam Taviani, postponed the next chapter of his life for the chance to play one more season with the teammates he’s grown to love and be part of North Central’s pursuit of a second championship. “I was debating coming back for my fifth year. These guys all know,” Taviani said gesturing to his teammates on the news conference dais. “I sat down with Coach Spencer and coach (Shane) Dierking, and I’ve got to say, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. The relationships I've built with the freshman even this year have been incredible, and I just got closer to everyone else on this team. And to go out a champion like this, it's just surreal.

“I'm just so happy that I chose to come back for my fifth year and shout out to all these guys for convincing me to come back. I'm just, it's just awesome. It's the most special moment of my life.” 

While Greenfield, Taviani, and their senior teammates are the class of North Central Cardinals that have not only broken through, but cemented North Central’s place at the top of the Division III football food chain, younger players like cornerback Antwain Walker and Lehnen, starting  quarterback, will carry the torch for Cardinal football. Both of these returning stars were attracted to North Central because of the culture of closeness that they saw. 

Lehnen met his future backfield mate just one month after North Central’s first championship i 2019. “Ethan was my overnight host, so that's when I first met him as a senior in high school, “ Lehnen recalled. While the Cardinals had just won a national championship, it was the program’s culture that he talked about in the aftermath of Stagg Bowl XLIX. “I just saw the love that each player had for each other, no matter what year they were or what position they played. Everybody just had a love for one another and I just wanted to be a part of that. I knew this place was special.”

Walker’s path has taken him from Northern Illinois to Southern Illinois before he found the North Central family. “The culture that we have here is just unbelievable. I've been a part of two other programs and the culture is nothing like this,” Walker said. “One of the best decisions I ever made in my life was to come here to North Central. From the moment I stepped on campus here and got around everyone, I knew that we were a championship team.”

The familial bond that this 2022 national championship team has is theirs forever, but North Central’s ascent to the top of the division spans many decades, something that Naperville native and North Central alum head coach Brad Spencer knows all too well. Bringing the title back to Naperville means a lot not just to him, but for Cardinal alums who have been on the ride. 

On what winning the national championship means as alum of the college Spencer said, “It means a lot, I think 11 of our 20 coaches are alums. There's a lot of blood in the bricks.” I've grown up on North Central's campus, around the college watching players when I was 8, 9, 10, 11 years old.” Spencer continued, “I get emails and text messages all the time from guys that played in the ’80s and ’90s that I watched when I was my son's age of how proud they are of where we're at, and what we've done.”

Ultimately, it’s those relationships and pride for their Cardinals that seem to fuel North Central’s desire to succeed. Not playing for the legacy that will come with being multiple time national champions or even to match the accomplishment of the 2019 championship team, but rather playing selflessly for one another fuels the program’s excellence. Of his players, Spencer noted that “they wanted to get it done for the seniors, not for themselves. For the seniors. And the great thing is that our seniors wanted to get it done for them, and I think that's what Cardinal football is. It's loving each other, it's playing for each other, it's supporting each other. It's being the best version of yourself on and off the field.”

This class of North Central seniors has navigated their way to the apex of Division III. Along the way, they’ve dispatched all of the purple powers — defeating UW-Whitewater in the 2019 championship game, defeating Mary Hardin-Baylor in the 2022 semifinals and, with Friday night’s win over Mount Union, have now beaten the Purple Raiders in three consecutive tournaments. The Cardinals intend to fully pursue the lofty accomplishments of those traditional titans, but for these players, the men they’ve bonded with on this journey outweighs the trophies and accolades. 

“It just shows how special this program is,” Greenfield stated conclusively. “Take away the football championships and all that stuff. I have met some of the greatest people in my life through this program and it has been something so special. They're going to be my family for the rest of my life.”