INDIANAPOLIS -- Nick Bellore made the tough decision to give up hockey for football and it has paid off so far.

The Detroit Lions are one of the teams that has spoken to Bellore at the NFL Combine. He is ranked as the 10th best inside linebacker in the draft by the National Football Post.

Bellore, who is 6-foot-1 and 245 pounds, played both middle and weakside linebacker at Central Michigan.

Coming from a MAC school is no longer considered something to overcome to make it to the NFL level.

The Super Bowl winning Green Bay Packers had three former Central Michigan players on their roster -- Frank Zombo, Josh Gordy and Cullen Jenkins.

“It’s awesome to see those guys do well,’’ Bellore said.

Bellore, who grew up in Whitefish Bay, Wisc., was at a football camp at the University of Michigan, when he met a coach from Central Michigan and got an offer.

He carries the distinction of serving as a three-year captain.

“I’m not sure someone who is a true sophomore has been (a captain). It was an honor being voted by the players, everything throughout college is having the respect of your teammates and I felt that really showed they had admiration for me and I tried to lead the team to the best of my ability,’’ Bellore said.

Bellore missed just one game while playing for the Chippewas. That was a week after he tore up the inside of his mouth from molar to molar that required 16 stitches in a game with a fluke chin strap incident.

Like a true former hockey player, he stayed in the game.

“It was a Western Michigan game. You don’t come out for those games,’’ Bellore said.

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)