Undrafted players sometimes have the hardest journeys, but it pays off in the end

Every year there ends up being one or two studs that shine throughout the year, which not one person had worthy of a draft pick. Last year it was Victor Cruz of the New York Giants, the year before it was LeGarrette Blount of Tennessee Titans. Blount was waived and later signed by Tampa Bay and still remains their starting running back. The point is there are players that are coming from all other leagues that are finally starting to get a shot in the NFL.

Undrafted players have made names for themselves in the past, guys like Dick "the Night Train" Lane, Warren Moon and John Randle were all players that had very successful careers in the NFL. Just because a player is not drafted doesn't mean that he will not be given a shot at the next level. With the recent change in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, NFL teams now carry 90 players on their rosters in the beginning of the year to open camp. This is really starting to help the players who might not be a guy on the radar, get a shot at the 53 man roster.

A good example of this was Kurt Warner. Kurt is a future Hall Of Fame Quarterback who deserves the world if you ask me. Kurt was bagging groceries for a supermarket before getting in the Arena Football League to play for the Iowa Barnstormers. In addition to being perhaps the greatest Cinderella story in NFL history, Warner is a two-time league MVP who has posted the three best single-game passing yardage totals in Super Bowl history.

Another good example is Cameron Wake, the Defensive End of the Dolphins; he was a pretty solid player coming out of Penn State in 2005. He was not drafted and had to go play for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. After racking up 16 sacks in one season and winning Defensive MVP and Rookie of the Year, the Miami Dolphins took a shot at him. Cameron Wake has been a terror off the edge since he has made it in the NFL.

Finally, how can you forget about Fred Jackson, a Division 3 football player from Coe College. He did everything and anything to become an NFL Player. Fred started off his football career by playing for the NIFL (National Indoor Football League) for the Sioux City Bandits where he was able to win MVP in 2005. After his successful season, he went to the Rhein Fire in NFL Europe in 2006 where he led their football team in rushing with 731 rushing yards, before he was finally given a work out by former Coe College Alum Marv Levy, who was the Buffalo Bills GM at the time. Fred made the practice squad of the Bills and would later end up sticking on the roster, where he is the starting running back now for the Bills.

This year there are many good football players coming from all conferences ranging from D1 to D3. Even though the guys might not make a roster when the roster is put together it doesn't mean the journey is over. Just look at the past few weeks, both Nick Hill (QB) and James Bryant (FB) where signed to NFL rosters. Nick Hill was the starting quarterback last year for the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League, where he earned a spot on a roster behind Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay for the Packers. Yesterday, James Bryant the former Miami Hurricane and Louisville Cardinals Fullback/Linebacker, was able to find a way on a roster in the NFL with the Detroit Lions after a journey where he was a linebacker for the Orlando Predators last season and the left mid-season to sign with the BC Lions of the Canadian League. Both of these players were hungry and never stopped believing, they could make a roster.

Today a story broke about Nicholas Taylor, a former point guard of Florida International University in Boca Raton, Florida. I had the pleasure to talk with Nic on the phone when he was in Boca Raton training this year to become an NFL player. He was telling me how he ran a 4.27 on numerous times. He was scheduled to get a chance to play in the Probound Sportswear Florida Bowl before it was cancelled and really was hoping to display his speed. Well he didn't give up, and ended up making a roster today, when the Minnesota Vikings, gave him a 3 year deal as a Safety for their team.

So every day there are players who might be playing in the Indoor Football League like Terrell Owens or any other league, but even if you are undrafted, there is a very good chance you could make an impact on an NFL roster, the hardest part of doing it, is not giving up.