The season starts now for the NFL’s longest of longshot rookies

NFL rookie camps are unfolding. Rookies across the league are reporting for their first pro workouts. Their names have been called.

For some, their names were called in the draft. For others, their names were called immediately after the draft when teams signed them as undrafted free agents.

But another group of collegiate players arrive in these rookie camps dinged from being initially excluded and determined to create their own NFL path.

They are rookies initially overlooked who are now invited for tryouts at these camps.

Sometimes it’s a longshot. Sometimes their chances are so marginal that even NFL teams do not take them seriously and only invited them to supply extra bodies.

But the players from this lot do not view it that way.

They know magic can happen.

“I just think it’s a group with dreams,’’ Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “It’s no different than your own son or daughter and their dreams. These players from this group have been playing football forever and working hard. They just want a chance. They think they can do it.’’

Oftentimes they can’t.

But sometimes they do.

The Ravens have been near the league’s forefront in inviting this type of collegiate player and watching him rise and earn a roster spot.

Last season, cornerback Jaylen Hill from Jacksonville State, a rookie invited for a tryout to the rookie camp, made it to the Ravens’ season-opening roster. The Ravens this week just signed two players — Rutgers receiver Janarion Grant and Shepherd defensive end Myles Humphrey — to contracts. Neither were drafted or initially signed as free agents.

Both Grant and Humphrey simply showed up and showed out.

And consider that for 14 consecutive Baltimore seasons at least one player from the entire rookie free agent pool has made the Ravens’ roster.

“I think more teams are being open-minded about this avenue,’’ Harbaugh said. “There is a fine line between the first round and the second round players in the draft. There is a fine line between players who are drafted and players who are not. And there is a fine line between the signed free agent after the draft and the ones not signed that you invite to the rookie camps.

“Sometimes you get these guys in and you think, ‘Wow, he’s a pretty good player.’ Jaylen did this last year. He surfaced in our analytics because he had a bunch of interceptions in college (a Jacksonville State career record number of 13). But he didn’t have a draft grade from us. He didn’t get a free agent grade from us. We went back and watched the film and invited him to tryout. And he just popped. That’s the thing you are looking for in that situation. The guy that just pops.’’

That’s what Cincinnati offensive right tackle Kendall Calhoun seeks to do. He was not drafted. He was not immediately afterward signed as an undrafted free agent.

But he just finished a tryout earlier this week in the Oakland Raiders rookie camp. And he reports on Thursday to the Houston Texans rookie camp.

“I’m a realistic person, I knew my draft stock wasn’t as high as others and I didn’t even watch the draft until the final day, the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds,’’ Calhoun said. “And when it was over, I waited for a phone call, for my name to be called. After about 10 minutes, the Texans called and invited for the tryout. And then the Monday after the draft, the Raiders called and invited me for the same.’’

Consider that for this group of college players, their name being called comes in such a punctured yet promising way. But also consider, as Calhoun has, that at least their names in some way are called.

There is another huge group of collegiate players who are currently, relentlessly knocking on NFL doors simply trying to get a crack amongst this third tier of NFL hopefuls.

Calhoun’s Cincinnati offensive line coach, Ron Crook, says of this 6’6, 302-pound tackle: “I think Kendall is a curious kid who loves playing the game of football. I think he’s got a chance. Maybe it’s marginal. But maybe with the right coach and the right fit he has a chance to make an NFL team. It’s like college recruiting, we miss guys; so does the NFL. He has the work ethic and the belief in himself. I tell him, I tell all players that it doesn’t matter how you get there. If you have the ability to get in a camp and a coach who knows what to do with it you can earn your way.’’

Calhoun accepts that his name is being called in a different way.

He said his mind is right.

“I’m long, I’m athletic, and I’m an offensive lineman that really knows how to grind,’’ Calhoun said. “I know how to work hard. That’s how I was raised. I know that hard work is very rewarding.’’

He knows it can open doors.

Anthony Lynn, the Los Angeles Chargers head coach, has traveled this road.

He was a gifted running back from Texas Tech in 1992 who went undrafted. He was invited to the Giants’ rookie camp and found himself behind Dave Meggett and Rodney Hampton. Then Giants coach Ray Handley told Lynn that his lack of special teams value meant the Giants would pass.

The next year he was invited to the Denver Broncos rookie camp. He stuck. He played two seasons in Denver, two in San Francisco, and four more in Denver.

He won two Super Bowl rings with Denver.

From rookie tryout to two-time Super Bowl champion to NFL head coach.

Magic can happen.

”First of all, the player that comes from this pool, he’s cheap, he doesn’t cost you much, because this guy is happy to get a meal and a cot,’’ Lynn said. “That means something to NFL teams in terms of budgets and costs. You know, this is a guy that is under a lot of duress. He’s got to perform. He’s got to impress you. And he has to do that without trying too hard. He’s got to keep his anxiety down. The guy who remains calm and cool and performs under pressure, well, you’ve got something. If he can impress in this situation, that makes me a little bit curious. That’s a guy I want to take to training camp.

“I recognize this type of kid. It was me. He has a chip on his shoulder. He is very determined.’’

He is the player whose name was not called with carnival or glitz.

A player with a winding, resonant dream of NFL magic.