NBC's Rob Elgas Recalls Playing Days at Crystal Lake Central

No, this Crystal Lake Central graduate won’t be coming home to watch the Crystal Lake South-Crystal Lake Central football game Friday night. He’ll be stuck in Chicago at the NBC studios on Michigan Avenue.

But he’s the first one to congratulate the fans of these two rivals. By virtue of 16,000 votes on Facebook, the game is the station’s prep destination of the week.

“We will have a crew doing a live remote for our 6 a.m. show,’’ Rob Elgas said.

This game hits home for Elgas. After all, he is a 1992 graduate of

The Tigers made the playoffs last year, ending a long drought. Elgas recalled a team that he played on during his senior season. He was a tight end on offense and a corner back on defense for a team that had success.

Elgas admitted he didn’t see the ball too much on offense.

“We were a running team,’’ he said. “We had David Beazley (Northwestern). I would block and he would run 100 yards.”

Now defense was a different matter. He did see the ball on defense.

“I think I had five interceptions in five games,’’ he said.

And there is also that matter of a loss in the playoffs to Wauconda. One local paper predicted Central would win by four touchdowns. It didn’t happen.

“We heard how great we were,’’ he said. “I think we were down by two points and missed a field goal and that was it.”

With a career in television, Elgas is used to traveling. He’s a former anchor from El Paso, Texas. He seems to have found a home in Chicago being at NBC since 2002.