Brian Gerry remembers hearing discussions and locking eyes with coaches on a visit to Nebraska more than six years ago. It became clear, Gerry said, that his son mystified the Cornhuskers' football staff.

Nate Gerry will arrive at Philadelphia Eagles training camp this weekend as a fifth-round rookie linebacker eager to carve out his place in the NFL, but back then, he was just a kid from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with his sights set on a scholarship.

And his father said Nebraska's recruiters were interested because they knew Gerry won sprinting championships on the track in high school. He'd broken state records, too. But his head-turning 10.3-second 100-yard dash time didn't mesh with the stereotype of the burly South Dakota football player whose toughness overcame mediocre athleticism, so coaches needed to see him for themselves.

"He got a lot of attention at Nebraska," Brian Gerry said. "A lot of people questioned how a white boy from South Dakota could run that fast."

Eventually, Nate Gerry's speed and explosion helped him earn a full ride to Nebraska and steered him through his development into an all-Big Ten safety.

And those skills have him in position to become the 58th player from South Dakota to appear in an NFL game, according to Pro Football Reference.

MORE: Why the Eagles drafted a safety to play linebacker

But unlike some of the recent South Dakotan NFL stars -- think tight end Dallas Clark and kicker Adam Vinatieri -- Gerry's athleticism stands out. Those around Gerry say his speed will aid in a switch from safety to linebacker with the Eagles and should at least allow him the chance to compete for playing time on Philly's vaunted special teams units.

"He's a real athlete," his high school coach, Brian Hermanson, said.

And NFL.com's pre-draft scouting profile of Gerry said the 6-foot-2, 218-pound defender was "chiseled from granite."

While South Dakota doesn't typically produce athletic marvels, Brian Gerry said his son's ascent to professional football was never stunning for him. Theirs had always been a talented sports family.

Brian Gerry played football at Southwest Minnesota State in the 1980s and his wife, Kelli, was an athlete herself. Their three kids -- Jennifer, Matthew and Nate -- all played sports competitively, too, and Brian works as the head athletic trainer at Augustana University in Sioux Falls.

Nate was the youngest, so he often had to battle Matthew and his friends in races, basketball or football, challenging competitors two or three years older. Gerry was short and chubby growing up, his dad said, but he found ways to hang with more physically advanced kids.

Then, early in his high school years, Gerry hit a growth spurt at the same time he eyed a spot on Washington High School's state championship football team. It lined up so that his body transformed from his freshman year to his sophomore season, Brian Gerry said, and the family soon signed Nate up for agility training at a local gym.

Nate's quickness increased. He hit the weights hard and adopted a nutrition plan.

"He's very conscientious about his diet, and his body and working out," Brian Gerry said. "It's almost a religion to him."

Nate was soon a star on the track and made appearances on Hermanson's powerhouse varsity football team as a sophomore. His junior year, he played linebacker, safety, receiver and long snapper at times on the gridiron.

Hermanson said Gerry could play any position because of his combination of strength and speed. That versatility showed up most clearly on punt coverage.

"It would really stun the crowd, because we would have Nate snap the ball, and then he would beat everyone down the field to make the tackle," Hermanson said. "I've never seen anything like that."

Gerry was a standout in South Dakota, but college coaches needed to know: Would he be as impressive while competing against the nation's top athletes?

Nebraska's staff, led by Bo Pelini at the time, was itching to find out, Brian Gerry said. According to his father, Nate received a call with an offer to attend an Under Armour high school football showcase in Lincoln that was designed for the 50 best players in Nebraska.

The call came shortly after the family visited the Cornhuskers. Brian Gerry assumes Pelini pulled some strings.

"I think what happened was -- because he was a South Dakota kid invited to a Nebraska event -- was that the Nebraska coaches probably got a hold of the organizers and said, 'Hey, why don't you guys invite this kid from South Dakota and see how he stacks up with everybody else?'" Brian Gerry said.

Nate, then a high school junior, attended the Under Armour event in Lincoln, and the first drill on his schedule was the broad jump. Before stepping up for his turn, Nate looked to his dad across the field, offered a slight smile and flashed a thumbs up.

The youngest Gerry was already a star broad jumper on the track, and he soared beyond devices measuring distance, Brian Gerry said. The impressive leap left scouts stunned, and a large group soon formed around the kid from Sioux Falls, following him from drill to drill.

By the end of the day, Gerry won MVP. He proved to Nebraska's coaches that his athletic prowess was impressive outside of South Dakota's borders.

The next few years flew by, Brian Gerry said. Injuries pushed Nate into a role as a linebacker during his true freshman year at Nebraska, and then he settled in at safety for the rest of his career, where he emerged as a Big Ten star with his ability to cover ground in the secondary or creep up to stuff the run.

Gerry didn't leave Nebraska free from missteps or controversy, though. He missed his senior year bowl game because of academic ineligibility, a gaffe Gerry takes blame for and said was purely a miscalculation.

In any case, the hiccup didn't leave a significant dent in Gerry's draft stock. He flashed his athleticism again at the NFL combine, where he ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash, which would have been second among all linebackers, to grab the attention of scouts.

He soon landed in Philadelphia, where he's facing a switch back to linebacker as a rookie.

The transition offers an early challenge in Gerry's career. And he hit bumps during the Eagles' offseason workouts as he learned the ins and outs of life in an NFL front seven, Brian Gerry said, but he's found his footing.

This week, Nate told his dad he was excited for training camp to open Monday, so he could begin proving his value in a new position and showcasing his athleticism.

"He feels comfortable in it now," Brian Gerry said. "I think he finished pretty good in the minicamp. He'll figure it out. The kid's a football player -- there's no doubt about it."

Brian Gerry repeated that sentiment several times. His son, he said, was a football player. And not just a South Dakotan football player.

-- @AaronKazreports