Franchise ResourcesCanadian standout determined to leave his mark in the IFL
July 31, 2006
Straight out of Canada to the IFL Adam"AJ" Zeglen comes to the league with a great story for this year's featured player profile.
AJ like most of us started in the POP Warner League in 1991. Unlike most if not all of us AJ played POP Warner in Canada. Starting with the St. James Seahawks, AJ was identified immediately as a speedster and was placed at half back. AJ adapted to the game quickly by scoring his first touchdown the very first time he touched the ball. That year AJ was voted the offensive MVP. AJ continued to excel in his football career in the POP Warner League and over the years he helped his team win back to back championships as well as receiving back to back Offensive MVP honors. To cap off his amazing POP Warner career, AJ set a Manitoba POP Warner touchdown record with 63 touchdowns in 11 games including 10 touchdowns in 1 game!
AJ started his high school career with Winnipeg at Kelvin High School. Very much like his career in POP Warner career AJ made a name for him self in the high school rankings as he was voted offensive MVP all three years of high school (only 3 grades in Canadian high school), led the league in touchdowns with 23, ranked #1 high school football player in Manitoba and helped his team win the league championship his senior season.
As you all would imagine AJ was very highly recruited by colleges and universities all over Canada and the Northern United States. AJ decided to attend the University of Crookston Minnesota but later transferred to the University of Manitoba before the start of the season to play for the Bison's. AJ played 5 years for the Bison's in the C.I.S. Once again AJ was the star in the spotlight earning numerous player of the game awards throughout his 5 years with the Bison's. In 2001 AJ helped lead the Bison's to the Vanier CUP which is the Canadian University football Championships. To close out his senior season of University ball AJ led the Bison's in touchdowns with 6.
In 2005 after his successful career with the Bison's it was no surprise that the Canadian Football League had their eyes on AJ after he was one of the most highly touted players in Manitoba history. AJ was brought in for negotiation with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and later chose to pursue football in the US where he had tryouts with the Grand Rapids Rampage (AFL) and the Green Bay Blizzard (AFL2). AJ did extremely well at both workouts and was off the charts in all categories except for the size category. AJ was told that he was about 20-25lbs lighter than what they were looking for to fill the FB/LB position. After the Green Bay Blizzard tryout in February AJ was directed by Blizzard head coach Bob Landsee to put on some weight and get some experience in semi-pro Football by playing with the Milwaukee Bulldogs in the prestigious Ironman Football League.
After long consideration AJ came to the conclusion that playing for the Milwaukee Bulldogs was the best opportunity to continue to pursue his dream to play professional football. AJ currently lives and works in Madison as a seal coat and blacktop specialist. Back home AJ is a personal trainer and plays the guitar in his rock band. AJ is the son of Ed and Lynne Zeglen & has a brother Mike who was also a star in Winnipeg.
