A tuff row to hoe for UDFAs in the NFL

[drs23]

Found this good read on BRB. This story is about Pat Schiller an UDFA who picked up by the Falcons and is written by his uncle who reports for the NY Times magazine. Caution: It's kinda long, but I enjoyed it.

The Hard Life of an N.F.L. Long Shot

Last April 28, a splendid spring Saturday that fairly begged you to be outdoors, I spent all afternoon in front of my living-room TV, anxiously watching the last day of the annual N.F.L. draft, live from Radio City Music Hall. As big a football fan as I am, I had never seen any part of a draft, to say nothing of its final four rounds, which are a roughly seven-hour marathon that lasts until sundown. And yet, on that day, I sat riveted.

I had in front of me what’s known as a Draft Scout Player Profile: a starkly efficient, computerized summation of every draftable player’s past prowess and future prospects. I, however, was interested in only one, my nephew, my younger sister’s son. His specs were, of course, familiar to me. But somehow the officious, bare-bones alignment on my computer screen — in categories befitting a prize steer at auction — rendered him a complete stranger. And a rather impressive one at that.

Name: Pat Schiller. Number: 53. Position: Outside linebacker. Height: 6-foot-1. Weight: 234. College: Northern Illinois. Under “Pro Day Results” — his audition, essentially, before several N.F.L. scouts at the DeKalb campus of Northern Illinois University earlier in March — were 22 bench presses of 225 pounds, a 35-inch vertical leap and, for a linebacker, a head-turning 4.65 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Under his “Draft Scout Snapshot” was a link to game-highlight footage: a rapid-fire sequence of heat-seeking-missile launches into ball carriers; the all-out, “high-motor” mode of play that garnered No. 53 a team-leading 115 tackles in his senior year, along with second-team All Mid-American Conference and Northern Illinois’s Linebacker of the Year honors. As for Pat’s “Projected Round,” there was, after the word “stock,” a bright red, upward-pointing arrow, followed by the words “shot late.”

THE REST

[Double Barrel]

That was a really good read. I couldn't stop until I finished it. I imagine that his story is duplicated many times over by great athletes on the fringes of NFL rosters just trying to get their breaks, which most often never happen.

[drs23]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

That was a really good read. I couldn't stop until I finished it. I imagine that his story is duplicated many times over by great athletes on the fringes of NFL rosters just trying to get their breaks, which most often never happen.

That was me as well. It made Arian's journey even more special to me after reading first hand all that plays into it. I found it very interesting.

Glad you enjoyed it.