This has been a pretty remarkable week for football on Kaua'i, which is saying something for an island where the season — and much of the conversation —generally ends in November.

But here it is the last day in April and football, we're told, is quite the buzz.

Small wonder when what has been growing on the Garden Island of late is ... pro football prospects. A bumper crop by historical standards.

In the space of two days, one native son, linebacker Jordon Dizon of Waimea and the University of Colorado, was a second-round pick of the Detroit Lions and the only player from a Hawai'i high school drafted. Another, center Brennan Carvalho of Kapa'a via Kamehameha Schools and Portland State, signed a free-agent deal with the Green Bay Packers.

Consider that the last Kaua'i product drafted was Carvalho's father, Bernard, out of the University of Hawai'i by Miami in 1984. The only other one being Kani Kauahi, from UH, via Kamehameha, by Seattle in 1982.

While the bows belong to Kaua'i, the showing underlines the breakthroughs being made throughout Neighbor Island football. Scan a UH roster these days and there are nearly a dozen players from other islands, including running back Daniel Libre (Konawaena), and defensive backs Kenny Estes (Waimea) and Mana Silva (Kamehameha-Hawai'i), who figure to see considerable time for the Warriors in the fall.

Throw in the Pac-10 vanguard — Hawai'i Prep graduates Daniel Te'o-Nesheim (Washington) and Max Unger (Oregon) and Baldwin alum Kaluka Maiava (Southern California) — and college recruiters who come through here are learning that they bypass the Neighbor Islands at their own peril.

To be sure the brand of football is more competitive beyond O'ahu these days but there is also previously unheard of visibility. The Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's nine-year-old state tournament has given players from Neighbor Island schools more exposure, especially with the advent of Division II in 2003.

Now recruiters, even those limited by travel budgets and time, not only get a glimpse of Neighbor Island players but can do comparison shopping, measuring them against O'ahu prospects. "They (state playoffs)," have helped tremendously," said Waimea athletic director Jon Kobayashi.

The success of Dizon and Carvalho has done more than give Kaua'i something to celebrate. "They are looked up to by many on the island," Kobayashi said.

Indeed, they have provided inspiration not only on Kaua'i but on football fields around the state.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.