FARGO Dillon Radunz was a young kid when his father passed away. But in Becker, Minn., population 4,844, others stepped up as father figures to the promising football player who ended up at North Dakota State.
But once in Fargo, the same void existed.
“I couldn’t rely on my home town,” Radunz said. “I’m not saying I came here and said, ‘Hey, I need a mentor.’ But I got lucky.”
His coaches at NDSU aside, he got lucky with Pastor Mike Hull at a church in Fargo. This weekend, Radunz is paying back the gratitude of sorts by taking a break from working out with the Tennessee Titans and speaking at a couple of events with Hull’s True North Church.
“He was one of those guys you could open up to and say anything,” Radunz said. “It was super important for me to do that. He could resonate with you.”
Part of the resonation is with Hull’s background he also played college football.
“He helped me through a lot,” Radunz said.
Radunz, who will be entering his second season with the Titans, has grown in his ability to talk to young kids. Public speaking, after all, is usually a learned art.
“Definitely, the more experience you get at it, the better you are at it,” he said. “The biggest thing is making sure kids have an outlet to be able to ask questions and connect with God and their faith and to have a safe environment to do that. Growing up, I wasn’t always connected to my faith but I was part of a youth group so I was able to do that. It’s about giving them a resource.”
Radunz will speak to middle school students at 7 p.m. Friday in what is called a “Wyld Life” event at 3540 38th Ave. S in Fargo. Wyld Life and its associate Young Life are nationwide Christian mission organizations with the aim of providing mentorship to junior high and high school students.
On Sunday, he’ll team with Hull at True North Church at West Fargo Cheney Middle School, where the congregation meets, for a question and answer session.
The 6-foot-6, 301-pound Radunz was a second-round pick of the Titans, the 53rd player overall, almost one year ago. He was back at NDSU in March for the school’s Pro Day, in part talking with former Bison offensive tackle Cordell Volson, who is vying to become the next Bison offensive lineman in the NFL.
“NFL teams will love him,” Radunz said. “Just being in the league for a year and understanding players and the business side of it, teams are going to love him. He’s going to make a long career for himself. I’m excited for him. Hopefully he’ll be with a team near me or maybe even the Titans, we’ll see.”
Radunz could also give a long talk on winning.
At Becker, he played on back-to-back Minnesota Class 4A state championship teams. He was a big part of two Division I FCS national titles with the Bison and would have played a major role for a third title had he not tore his ACL. He didn’t play his senior season after the FCS postponed its 2020 season to the spring of 2021.
Radunz played in 12 games last season starting one, a 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers. It was a successful year for the team, which won the AFC’s South Division with a 12-5 record but lost 19-16 to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC playoffs.
A year ago, Radunz was training for the draft. Now he’s training to better himself as a player. The first Organized Team Activity (OTA) workout is at the end of May.
“The player I am today is completely different,” he said. “I think to develop the player you think you need to be and being able to do that is huge.”
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