All initially wondered if he was getting pranked.
Cincinnati had in fact selected him in the fourth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday, taking him at No. 115 overall. He becomes the second Fairfield product on the roster, joining offensive lineman Jackson Carman, who also was in attendance at his party.
“It’s kind of surreal,” All said. “I was doing a workout, so it kind of caught me off guard. When I got the call, I thought ‘no way,’ and I just couldn’t believe it. I had to make sure I wasn’t getting prank called for a second. It was crazy.”
All, who graduated from Fairfield in 2019, spent his first four years at Michigan before transferring to Iowa in 2023, and he missed 18 games over his final two collegiate seasons because of back surgery to repair a herniated disc in 2022 and ACL surgery in 2023.
The 6-foot-4, 252-pound tight end said his back is no longer an issue and his knee recovery is going well enough he expects to be ready for training camp. All led Iowa in receiving yards last season despite missing the final seven games and now follows a long line of former Hawkeye tight ends to make it to the NFL, including George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson, Noah Fant and Sam LaPorta most recently.
“Tight ends who love football and love that feeling of being a team like that just end up at Iowa, and they just so happen to be the best of the best of the best,” All said. “I wasn’t really thinking anything like that when I made the decision. It just so happened.”
An “all-around tight end,” as offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher called him, All said his versatility is the strongest part of his game. He is a pass-catcher with the physicality to also be an effective blocker in the running game.
All began his high school career as a wide receiver but switched to tight end during a first-team All-Greater Miami Conference season in 2017. He was the Indians’ top receiver as a senior in 2018, helping the team to the playoffs for a fourth straight year.
Being back at his old high school stadium Saturday and learning he was going to be a Cincinnati Bengals brought things “full circle,” he said. He looks forward to representing his hometown team, though he grew up in a family of Cowboys fans. All also joins several former Michigan teammates in Cincinnati, including DJ Turner II, Dax Hill and Brad Robbins.
All couldn’t help but seem a little star-struck about the idea of catching passes from Joe Burrow.
“It’s crazy just hearing that,” All said. “I don’t even know what to think. We’re gonna get a Super Bowl out of this. We are.”
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