By Joyce Oscar
Most athletes have a special memory of little league football. And when you’re 6’4″ and 295 pounds, certain memories really resonate with you. It was his very first year playing football and everyone lined up side-by-side. “I was a little chunky kid but I was super fast,” says Nolan Laufenberg of Castle Rock, Colorado. “I remember my team had a race between everyone on the team and I won. I was an offensive lineman and I won.” Just because you’re larger in stature doesn’t mean you can’t move off the line quickly and Nolan has proven that. His 40-yard dash time is a 5.3 and his shuttle posted at 4.7.
The Laufenberg family takes their sports seriously. 
Staci Laufenberg, Nolan’s mom, was a volleyball player at the University of Iowa and his sister Madison also plays volleyball at The University of North Carolina. Nolan grew up watching football with his dad Doug, who was a football player at the University of Iowa. It was at the age of five that he developed a passion and decided he wanted to get out and play. Nolan also plays baseball and basketball, and he says this year he may try throwing shot put and discus for the Castle View track team. “Basketball really helps me with my foot work and conditioning and baseball helps more with the mental aspect of the game.” Statistics show that 88.5% 2016 NFL Draft picks played multiple sports in high school and most time multi-sport athletes look more attractive to college coaches.
Nolan is looking pretty attractive these days and he’s on college radars. He has already received an offer from the Air Force Academy and has strong interest from Indiana, Wyoming, Montana, and Northern Colorado.
