Every so often one comes around.

NIU football coach Joe Novak knows there are not many but thinks there are a few on every campus in America.

They are very rare, very exceptional athletes, but they are out there.

NIU wide receivers Dan Sheldon and Shatone Powers both tried to be one.

NIU guard Mike McKinney still holds out hope for the chance but doesn’t think he’ll get it.

McKinney knows the odds of becoming a two-sport athlete are against him.

“Can you do it?” Novak said. “Sure you can. But it’s extremely hard.”

With college coaches wanting their players to spend the entire year committed to their individual sport, splitting time between sports is often not feasible.

Just ask Sheldon. During his freshman year he wasn’t too sure about his football abilities. So he decided to keep his options open and try out for the baseball team.

At first he enjoyed it, but over time the joy faded away.

“I practiced with the team, but I never actually got in the game,” Sheldon said. “But it didn’t matter. I was so tired because I’d be practicing for two sports every day and still going to class. I was exhausted.”

Stories like Sheldon’s are common, NIU basketball coach Rob Judson said. While it’s hard to find two-sport athletes, it’s even harder to find a successful one.

But it does happen.

The NFL’s Julius Peppers is the latest success story. A basketball and football starter at North Carolina, Peppers no longer plays hoops. He registered 11 sacks last season and played in the NFL Pro Bowl on Sunday.

But Novak and Judson insist players like that are exceptional cases. In fact, neither coach has coached a two-sport athlete.

The closest either came was when Judson recruited Marcus Pollard when he coached at Bradley. Pollard played basketball at Bradley and now plays for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.

After the 2000 season, Novak had a player switch sports on him.

Dan Urban redshirted his freshman season with the football team in 1998. He then served as a backup quarterback the next two seasons. After setting the NIU record for the longest pass, a 99 yarder to current NFL wide receiver Justin McCareins, Urban took off for baseball. In two years with the baseball team he hit over .300 as a starting outfielder.

But Vaurice Patterson remains the last athlete in NIU history to play two sports at the same time. Patterson was a wide receiver on the football team and a guard on the basketball team in the early 1990s.

Powers tried to claim the title as the last NIU two-sport athlete. After averaging 21 points per game at Riverside-Brookfield High School, including a 40-point output, Powers made a deal with Judson and Novak.

If he kept his grade point average up, they would allow him to play basketball along with football. Unfortunately, Powers couldn’t keep up his end of the bargain.

The latest to challenge the two-sport barrier is football recruit Josh Allen.

Allen signed with the Huskies on Feb. 2 as a defensive back, but the 6-foot guard has considerable talent on the hardwood as well.

Allen broke the school scoring record with 1,525 points at North Chicago, the same high school former NIU running back Michael Turner graduated from. Allen was even recruited by Judson.

Before putting on any NIU uniform, Allen had entertained the thought of playing both sports.

That was until Novak and Judson sat down together and came to an agreement: football only.

“Since [Allen] is on a football scholarship, it was Novak’s decision,” Judson said. “But I agreed with him. We feel its just too demanding; physically and mentally.”

When a player like Allen comes along, both coaches sit down and assess them on a case-by-case basis. They go over the possibilities, but more often than not, their decision turns out the same.

“I’m always open to it,” Judson said. “But it rarely works out. Just look at the numbers. They are so rare you can count the guys [who have succeeded] on one hand.”