Tom Farniok (born August 31, 1991) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He was signed by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2015. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

Early years

Farniok was a three-year letterwinner at Washington High School in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

. In 2008, he was named Class 11AA first-team All-State. As a sophomore, he was an honorable mention All-conference. He was named Class 11AA First-team All-State and offensive MVP of All-City Team. He was a first-team Greater Dakota All-Conference as senior and junior. As a senior, he served as team captain of Washington Warrior team that went 13-0 and claimed the Class 11AA state title (Washington's first since 1976). In addition, he was also an academic All-Conference and All-State in 2009. Farniok also lettered in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

at Washington HS. He had a personal-best throw of 43.73 meters (143 feet, 5 inches) in the discus as a senior. He also recorded a top-throw of 13 meters (42 feet, 8 inches) in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

at the Dakota Relays. Considered as a two-star recruit by

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, Farniok chose Iowa State over offers from

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as th ...

and

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually ...

Professional career

Farniok did not hear his name called during the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

, but signed with the

as an

shortly after the draft. He was subsequently released prior to the commencement of the 2015 season.

References

External links

Iowa State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farniok, Tom Living people American football centers Iowa State Cyclones football players Minnesota Vikings players Players of American football from South Dakota Sportspeople from Sioux Falls, South Dakota 1991 births Washington High School (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) alumni