‘Unforgettable’: Skyline coaches head to Nashville to watch Kenyon Sadiq make NFL debut
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IDAHO FALLS – In four decades of coaching, Scott Berger has seen a lot of football.
From playing college ball at Idaho State University to coaching high school football at Skyline, to watching the Grid Kids youth teams battle it out on Saturdays, football is in Berger’s blood.
Over his career, the head coach has celebrated championship wins. And he says he still gets emotional when players sign college scholarships, and after big wins and big losses.
But perhaps one of his proudest and most memorable moments came last Sunday, Sept. 13, when he watched former Skyline wide receiver Kenyon Sadiq make his NFL debut with the New York Jets.
“To have a player playing professional football, you can’t even explain what it means to you and how proud you are of him,” Berger said. “We’re just so happy for him. He’s gotten what’s he’s worked so hard for.”
Sadiq, who was a first-round pick by the Jets in this year’s NFL draft, played in a 23-10 win over the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.
Berger and Skyline assistant coach Chet Taylor decided to make the weekend trip to Nashville for the occasion — and Sadiq didn’t disappoint. He scored his first NFL touchdown on a 3-yard run in the first quarter.
Berger noted Sadiq showed the same versatility that made him the top player in Idaho as a senior, and eventually one of the top tight ends in college at the University of Oregon.
Sadiq lined up at tight end, at wide receiver, and in the slot, and finished with three catches in the game.
“Just to see him out on a professional field, it was an unforgettable moment,” Berger said.
He and Taylor met with Sadiq after the game. Berger said it was a moment that sparked some reflection, as he has known the NFL rookie since before junior high, when Sadiq played in the Skyline youth program.
Back then, “he looked like a lot of sixth graders,” Berger said. “I remember as a sixth grader, he was tall, kinda a skinny kid. He was a good athlete, you could tell.”
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Sadiq eventually moved to McCammon and attended Marsh Valley High School so the family could be with his ailing grandmother. But he returned to Skyline his sophomore year and immediately showed his physical presence with his size and work ethic. He was listed as 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds as a 10th grader.
“When I saw him walk in, I said, ‘Thank you, God!’” Berger recalled with a laugh.
But it wasn’t just Sadiq’s physical stature that made him a standout player.
“You never seen a more focused high school kid than what he was,” Berger said. “He always knew what he wanted.”
Skyline went on to win three consecutive state titles, with Sadiq making highlight-reel plays nearly every game. Sadiq then signed with Oregon and was a first-round NFL pick after two seasons.
Berger said the decision to attend the NFL game in Nashville was easy.
He remembered he had a chance to attend the 2001 Rose Bowl, where his former player Ryan Julian started on the defensive line for the University of Washington against Purdue.
“He’s going to play in the Rose Bowl,” Berger said. “How neat is that? And I didn’t do it.”
Berger said he’s always regretted that decision.
“It’s the year 2000, and you think you’re going to be around forever,” he said. “Having another chance, I had to do it.”
“This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that you need to be at,” he added.
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