Henry Litwin wasn’t drafted. Brandon Fusco was.

The former is a wide receiver, the latter was an offensive lineman.

Besides those two traits, these two Slippery Rock University graduates and football standouts have taken very similar career paths.

Fusco attracted little recruiting interest from colleges when he was a relatively under-sized lineman at Seneca Valley. Litwin played for Conneaut Area, a rural high school, and wound up walking on at SRU.

Both more than earned full scholarships through just plain hard work. Fusco built his body to NFL size and got his technique to match it. He went on to a solid NFL career for a number of seasons.

Litwin pounded the weight room as well, developed his speed and built a reputation of finding ways to get open despite double-coverage and not needing much of a window to come down with the football. He recently signed with the Chicago Bears as a non-drafted free agent.

Fusco beat the odds of coming from a Division II college program and carved out a pro career. The feeling here is that Litwin will do the same.

There’s something about guys like these two.

They exude confidence. They love the game. They are tireless workers. They do whatever it takes.

Litwin has put himself in a favorable situation with the Bears. Chicago’s top receiver from last season, Darnell Mooney, caught 81 passes for 1,055 yards and 13 touchdowns. He is in his fourth year out of Tulane.

Mooney will be back this year. Only one other receiver listed on the Bears’ 2022 roster caught a pass for the team last year. That is Dazz Newsome, a second-year player who caught two passes for 23 yards.

There are nine receivers on the Bears’ roster right now, not counting Litwin and any other non-drafted free agents they are bringing in. They did spend a second-round draft choice on Velus Jones from Tennessee.

Litwin has the talent and toughness to be a slot receiver for this team. He also has experience playing special teams — often times a determining factor in newcomers making an NFL roster.

Come September, I have a feeling Henry Litwin will still be in Chicago.

Against the clock

Jack Wilson coached basketball in the Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley areas for decades. He knows the high school game inside and out.

And he is dead-set against a 35-second a shot clock — or any shot clock — being added to the sport at the high school level.

Wilson figures lesser-skilled teams will be at a disadvantage and more blow-out scores could happen as a result. He also said the game can be played at any pace of speed, so why force every team to play the same way?

Basically, Wilson is saying if high school basketball isn’t broken, why fix it? And it’s definitely not broken.

Adding the necessary equipment and shot clock operators would bring on more expenses as well — for no justifiable reason.

This man is passionate about leaving the game the way it is.

And I agree with him.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle