Draft:Niklas Gustav

Niklas Gustav (born June 20, 1996) is a German-American football defensive end and long snapper for the Raiders Tirol of the European League of Football (ELF). He played college football at Morningside University.

Hamburg Junior Devils
Gustav started playing American football in the youth department of the Hamburg Blue Devils in 2012. As a linebacker, he was part of the German U19 national team at the 2014 Junior World Championships in Kuwait in 2014 and recorded 22 tackles and one sack in four games. The following year he competed for Germany at the 2015 European Junior Championships in Dresden. In the final, he recorded the most tackles of the game with eight, but he was unable to avert the defeat against Austria.

Aquinas High School Falcons
In the summer of 2015, Gustav joined his brother at Aquinas High School in San Bernardino, California, for his senior year. Due to the transfer rules of the local association, Gustav was only eligible to play for half of the season.

Morningside University Mustangs
In 2016, he was recruited by Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa, but sat out his first season as a redshirt. There in Sioux City he played for the Mustangs in the Great Plains Athletic Conference of the NAIA association. Gustav played as a defensive end and long snapper in his college career and was part of a very successful team. He won his conference every year and became national champion twice with the Mustangs. Gustav contributed to the result with a total of 25.5 sacks, which was a new school record. As a senior in the 2020-21 season, Gustav recorded 50 tackles, 10.5 sacks, a pass breakup and also forced a fumble. He was then named to the All-Conference Team for the third time and was named Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He returned to the Mustangs in December 2021 to strengthen the coaching staff for the playoffs. The Mustangs won the NAIA national championship again in 2021.

BC Lions
In the 2021 CFL global draft, Gustav was selected 36th by the BC Lions from Vancouver. During the 2021 season, Gustav appeared in twelve games and recorded seven special teams tackles. He was also used as a long snapper again.

Raiders Tirol
At the beginning of May 2022, Gustav was introduced as a new signing to the Raiders Tirol of the European League of Football (ELF): “The tradition and values ​​of the club as well as Coach Herron’s vision for his team are all points that I can identify with very well.” Gustav was a regular player from the start of the season and started every game as a starter. As in previous positions, he was used for the Raiders in the defensive line and as a long snapper. After recording two sacks in the first seven games, he brought down the opposing quarterback eight times in the last five games. He ended the regular season as the team's sack leader and in the top 5 of the ELF. With the Raiders he reached the semi-finals, but lost to the Hamburg Sea Devils. After the end of the season, Gustav was awarded the “#2 Raider Award” within the team. He was also elected to the 2nd ELF All-Star Team.

In February 2023, the Raiders extended Gustav's contract..

Awards

 * Individual awards


 * College All-Conference Team (2018–2020)
 * College Conference Defensive Player of the Year (2020)
 * NAIA All-American (2020)
 * CFL Global Draft Pick (2021)
 * ELF All-Star Second Team (2022)


 * Titles


 * Vize-Junioren-Europameister (2015)
 * NAIA Conference Meister (2016–2020)
 * NAIA Nationaler Meister (2018, 2019)

Personal life
Gustav is the older brother of Joshka Gustav, who also plays American football as a linebacker at Colorado University. Gustav studied Business Administration and Management at Morningside University.