Former Florida State University cornerback Greg Reid has had a tough road to find his way to the NFL, and it apparently has another curve in store, as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Reid will need a second surgery to repair a torn ACL after the first surgery was botched.
Greg Reid injury update: Free agent DB ready for NFL by October
The road to redemption has another bump for former FSU cornerback Greg Reid, who didn’t earn a contract in undrafted free agency.
Streeter Lecka
On Monday, Reid confirmed as much with a pair of emotional tweets regarding his misfortune:
Who can I count on now?? Another surgery #god #hurting
— Greg g5 Reid (@5GregReid) April 29, 2013
He took the 2 most important things in my life less then 2 weeks.
— Greg g5 Reid (@5GregReid) April 29, 2013
Reid, 22, didn’t tear his ACL in a Seminoles uniform or even on a FSU practice field; instead, it occurred during a practice with Valdosta State. The talented cornerback was forced to transfer to the Division II team after he was dismissed from the Florida State football program following a summer arrest that was Reid’s third violation of the school’s substance-abuse policy.
At 5’8, 190 pounds, Reid doesn’t have the ideal size of an NFL cornerback, but was expected to clock better times than he did in the 40-yard dash when he was invited to attend the Florida State Pro Day. However, he finished in 4.69 seconds and pulled his hamstring on the second run.
The disappointing performance, in hindsight, can be explained some by the necessity of a second surgery, and it left Reid with an up-hill battle, as he wasn’t selected in the 2013 NFL Draft or signed in the undrafted free agency that followed.
Instead, Reid will have to work toward an October recovery date and look to earn a spot on an NFL roster then. It's not a scenario to rule out though, as Reid is certainly a good athlete with the potential to provide a team with a kick returner and a slot cornerback. In a draft profile on NFL.com, Reid drew a comparison to Chiefs cornerback Javier Arenas, a second-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
Similar to Reid, Arenas lacks height and top-end speed, but is a quick athlete with short-area burst that allows him to get up to full speed in a hurry. Reid had those same qualities before his knee injury and would seemingly be able to contribute in a similar way for a team.
But before all that, he’ll first have to recover from a second ACL surgery, convince a team that his troubles are in the past and make them believe that taking a chance on the former-freshman All-American will yield more good than bad.
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