FAIRFIELD — Erick All was ready for the call.
At the same time, he wasn’t ready.
The 2019 Fairfield grad was shaking off some nerves while working out with friends at his former high school’s field house when the phone rang.
“I was doing a workout so it kind of caught me off guard,” All said. “When I got the call, I thought ‘no way,’ and I just couldn’t believe it.
“I had to make sure I wasn’t getting prank called for a second. It was crazy.”
It wasn’t a joke. It was Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.
“Are you ready to come home?” Taylor asked All.
“Yessir,” All replied.
“We got you,” Taylor said. “We’re picking you right here.”
“Really?” All questioned with an excited tone. “You said this is the Bengals?”
“Yessir,” Taylor noted.
“All right,” All responded. “Let’s do it.”
All was selected by Cincinnati at pick No. 115 in the fourth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday.
“I was in the other room, so I walked in, and my heart was pounding,” All said. “Everyone was cheering, and my mom started hugging me and a few tears came to my eyes. It’s just crazy. I didn’t really know what to say.
“It is kind of surreal. … Everything kind of came back in a circle. I’m excited.”
ALL IS ALL-IN
All’s visit with the Bengals earlier this month was a reassuring one. He had numerous Top 30 visits with teams from around the NFL.
But one was more attractive than the other.
“I was home and when I went on the visit,” All said, “what stood out the most was just meeting with the tight ends coach and going over film, and he was just coaching me up on things. That is what I enjoyed most from the meeting.”
It’s All’s versatility as a tight end that has him all-in and the Bengals’ coaching staff believing in the 6-foot-4, 250-pounder from Iowa.
“Very well-rounded skill set,” Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said of what jumps out on tape. “Size, athleticism, contributor in both the pass game and the run game. He’s physical. We think he can be really an all-around tight end that can help us in all phases.”
All has a rare combination of size, pass catching ability and the ability to block well — which suited some of the Bengals’ needs at the position despite All having to overcome a couple injuries.
“Yeah, usually you’re living in one of those two worlds,” Pitcher said, “and when you find a guy who lives adequately, or more than adequately in both, then that’s a big deal. And he checks that box.
“Yeah, I think he’s really excited to come be a part of this organization. I think it’s always helpful when these guys have a ready-made support system around them, but we would’ve taken Erick All if he was from Hawaii. We didn’t take him because of that, but it’s certainly nice that he gets to come home and now be a contributor to his hometown franchise.”
All said he will use those abilities and is willing to do what needs to be done to help Cincinnati win games.
“I’d say just being able to do everything, being versatile is what I think is the strongest part of my game,” All said. “Just being able to do what the coaches ask me to do and being coachable and doing it how they want it to be done.”
‘WE’RE GOING TO GET A SUPER BOWL’
All put everything together after receiving the news that he was going to be a Bengal.
Star quarterback Joe Burrow was going to be the one throwing the ball to him.
“It’s just crazy hearing that,” All said. “I don’t even know what to think. Just play hard, compete and win. We’re going to get a Super Bowl out of this.
“It’s just crazy. I remember watching the man at LSU just doing his thing. He sets the standard for the quarterbacks in the league. It’s going to be crazy catching the ball from him. Being in a room with (Mike) Gesicki, that’s another thing that’s insane, too.”
Pitcher said the importance of the tight end position is geared toward how much Burrow expects out of them.
“Number one, we need really competitive guys who are trustworthy, who are going to be where we expect them to be on time,” Pitcher said. “That’s a given — you have to be able to contribute in this offense, and I think Erick is going to do that just fine. And it’s a plus when this guy can run down the seam and he can reach and catch, and he’s tough to bring to the ground. You add that to the fact that we can use him in the run game like I’ve referenced, and it’s a complete tight end. And that’s what he’s going to be for us.
“I think in all positions, that’s important,” Pitcher added. “I think the tight end position may have more on its plate than any other, because of how integral they are in the run and the pass scheme. They have to know it all, and they have to be able to function quickly within it all. That’s why traditionally those guys are smart, high character guys because they need to be. He’ll need to pick up quickly, but he will.
“We had three prior to this selection. We had three guys under contract that we feel really good about. You need more than that, so it was certainly something we identified as wanting to add to that group, and we’re really happy we get a chance to add Erick at this stage.”
OVERCOMING ADVERSITY
All has overcome plenty of adversity to get himself on the stage.
He suffered his first major injury while at Michigan where he hurt his back after just three games in 2022, forcing him to miss the remainder of that season.
All entered the transfer portal and was picked up by Iowa. In October of this past season, he sustained a significant injury to his knee when he caught a pass and was struck by a Wisconsin player.
But he’s worked his way back to be in this moment.
“My knee is great. I’m going to be back and ready for training camp,” All said. “Hopefully the injuries are out of the way and we can just focus on football.”
When asked how hard it has been to deal with the injuries, All responded with optimism.
“It’s not hard at all,” he said. “If you love the game it makes it easy for you. The only hard part about it is you’re not there with your team and playing and winning. That’s the only thing about it.
“My back injury, I had a herniated disc. It started right before spring ball, and I tried to play through that, and it kept getting worse and worse. I ended up having to get surgery after our third game of the season. Ever since surgery, I’ve been good. I had a little lingering pain after with my nerve and everything, but everything is good. My back isn’t a concern anymore. My back is completely fine and normal.”
HIGH SCHOOL DAYS
Fairfield football coach Jason Krause knows the type of work ethic All has instilled over the years.
“This isn’t surprising how hard he’s worked toward this moment,” said Krause, who supported All on Saturday by spending the entire draft day with him at the Fairfield High School field house.
“When he was coming through, we really just revamped and changed our entire offense geared to his skillset,” Krause added. “We’ve kind of continued with that model offensively. He kind of put us in position to be that team offensively when he was here as a player.
“As a person, what he brought to the table with his undying passion and his work ethic in what he brought to the table as just a person — it was really important to our program. That’s what made him who he is now.”
Krause coined All as the hardest-working player he’s ever coached.
“He overcomes any obstacle that he faces. That’s just, again, the person that he is.”
All did it all as an Indian, too.
He led the team in receptions and reception yards his junior and senior seasons, while taking care of the punting duties his entire senior year.
“There are a lot of guys that I’ve coached that are close to being the hardest working player I’ve coached,” Krause said. “I can say that, and I can tell any of the kids that we’ve coached, he is that player.”
COLLEGE DAYS
All spent four seasons at Michigan — where he was a captain his last year there — before finishing up his final collegiate season at Iowa.
He said he really wasn’t a tight end when he got to college, but Michigan taught him the ins and outs of the position.
“I was a receiver doing it, but it was different doing it as a tight end in different formations,” All said. “At Iowa, they taught me more tools and different ways to run routes. They added that to my game.”
All said he left Michigan to attend Iowa because he had a liking to the program with how the Hawkeyes set their football standard.
“I went to a bowl game practice and it’s a month before the game, and guys are out there flying around, hitting each other, no goofing around,” All said. “Guys are just locked in. You just felt this contagious love of football that rubbed off on me and I knew right then and there that was the school I wanted to be at.
“… I fell in love with the team, the guys and that’s where I wanted to be. Tight ends who love football and love that feeling of being a team like that just end up at Iowa, and they just so happen to be the best of the best of the best. I wasn’t really thinking anything like that when I made the decision. It just so happened.”
“He was a captain in Michigan before he even gets there, which is a big deal,” Pitcher chimed in. “He goes to Iowa and he’s having a hell of a season. And again, we’ve referenced obviously, (he) suffers an unfortunate injury, but they know how to coach that position. It’s very clear based on the guys they are producing in this league and we think that he fits that mold.
“Yeah. It’s a big deal,” Pitcher added of All being a captain. “That means something to come from a storied program like that and to have been given that honor from the people there — his teammates and his peers. We always are looking to add guys with high football character and he fits that mold.
“I think it just confirmed what we felt, which was that we had an intelligent, super competitive guy. That’s what you see on tape. To have the experience in the two programs that he’s had, you expect that. You see it on tape, and then you meet the guy in person and it confirms all those things. So, we weren’t surprised by anything. He just let us know that we were on the right track.”
