SLIPPERY ROCK — D.J. Flick has experienced both ends of the emotional spectrum on a football field as a collegian and a pro.

The 2002 Slippery Rock University graduate, who ranks second on SRU's career all-purpose yardage list with 4,794, returned to The Rock last Saturday night as members of the school's 1999 team were recognized.

SRU's 1999 team is the program's last to reach the Division II playoffs and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation that year.

"I remember going into Indiana (Pa.) and just crushing them (52-15) in their homecoming game," Flick said. "I also remember them coming to our place and beating us (27-20 in OT) in the first round of the playoffs.

"I'll never forget that feeling. I was devastated. Our team was good enough to go a long way that year."

Flick is one of only three receivers in SRU history — Greg Hopkins and Wade Acker are the others — to accumulate 2,000 receiving yards.

He also is the school's all-time leader in punt return yardage with 1,183.

"D.J. Flick was one of the most electrifying players we've ever had here," SRU coach George Mihalik said.

After receiving a free agent tryout with the Steelers during the summer of 2002, Flick was released late in the NFL preseason.

"As I was driving home the day I was released, my agent called and said that Ottawa of the Canadian Football League wanted me to come up for a tryout," Flick said.

"I went up there, caught a couple of passes for them and was signed that day."

Flick went on to play for three teams in the CFL: Ottawa, Hamilton and Saskatchewan, and was a member of the 2007 Saskatchewan team that won the Grey Cup.

Flick caught 70 passes for 1,020 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns that season.

Two games into the following season, his career was over.

"I leaped up to try to pull down a pass and got tangled up with the defender," Flick said. "We landed and my leg got caught under his body. The result wasn't too pretty."

Flick broke the tibia and fibula in his leg and dislocated his ankle. He rehabbed the entire season and tried returning for the final game of the regular campaign.

"I just didn't feel comfortable on the field, especially about going over the middle," he said. "If the team advanced in the playoffs, I told them I'd be available."

The Rough Riders were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and Flick, 29, retired during the offseason.

He wound up with 339 catches for 5,170 yards and 33 touchdowns in seven CFL seasons. He surpassed the 1,000-yard mark three times.

"Had D.J. not gotten hurt, he probably would have played a few more seasons and gotten into the Hall of Fame up there," Mihalik said.

Instead, Flick is now employed as a recreation specialist at a correctional facility in Muncy, Pa., where he coordinates physical activities for inmates.

He has a wife and 2-year-old twins.

"It's time I spent a little more time at home," he said.

Coming out of high school, Flick figured he had a shot at pro football.

"I had the speed and the tools. What I didn't have was the size," he said. "But the wider playing field in the CFL played to my abilities."

Even today, Flick stands just 5-foot-9, 190 pounds.

"He could have gone to a Division I school and been a role player," Mihalik said. "By going Division II, he became a big fish in a small pond and got himself noticed."