Linfield's Aaron Heston playing in D1 All-Star Game

Linfield Senior All-American Offensive Tackle has been selected to play in the inaugural Dixie Grid Iron Classic in St. George, Utah. The game will be held this upcoming Saturday (Feb. 5th) and is made up of primarily of D1 seniors along with players from Division II and the NAIA. Heston is the only player from Division III that was invited to play in this year’s game. The Dixie Grid Iron Classic is intended to replace the long standing and now disbanded Hulu Bowl as one of the 5 division 1 senior all-star game. In fact, the last Linfield Wildcat to participate in one of the Division 1 all-star games is Linfield Quarterback Brett Elliott who played in the 2006 Hula Bowl. Needless to say, this is a big honor for our mountain of an offensive tackle.

The roster spot opened up at the last minute for an offensive lineman and Heston made a quick and easy decision to jump on the opportunity to play in the game. “Up to this point I had been methodical training for my pro day which is quite different than a normal off season training schedule."  Heston wrote to Wildcat11.

This is a big opportunity for the 6’5” 315lbs tackle to show his skills and measure himself from defensive linemen from schools like Florida, BYU, Fresno State, Wisconsin among others. Heston is aware of the challenge; “These are big time players and it will certainly be different than anything I've seen before.” But the week of practice leading up the game is a huge chance for the Linfield tackle to make an impression on scouts and his coaching staff who will be composed of members of the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League. The week will be filled with scouts hovering over each drill and play to see if they can uncover players than can bolster their pro rosters and with that in mind Heston knows he has to be at his best every moment he’s on the field.

“I am also excited for the experience in itself. I never got the chance to play in the Oregon Les Schwab bowl in High School (Heston graduated from West Linn High in Oregon) since I only played one year of High School ball. I'm excited to meet people from around the country that I wouldn't otherwise have had the chance to meet. I really have nothing to lose throughout this whole ordeal and a whole lot to gain.” Wrote Heston

We’ll touch base with big #73 though out the week via Heston’s twitter account @aheston or you can follow him and get updates as the week progresses.

Congrats to Mr. Heston on the great honor and best of luck representing the ‘Catdome and Division III!