I have been working hard for years to get back into the National Football League (NFL) without an agent. It is difficult, but I did it once. I went from working at Walmart, then to placing seventh on the depth chart for safeties while playing for the Buffalo Bills. I then made second team safety and became the top contender for first team safety. Then suddenly, I was cut. I have not received an NFL call back yet. Since then, I have signed 11 other professional football contracts (Canadian Football League, Indoor Football League, National Arena League and Arena Football League) and got myself into the 2020 XFL Supplemental Draft.
When players don’t have an agent, franchises think they are unworthy to bring in. If no one is representing you, obviously you have red flags. That thinking is putting all unrepresented athletes in the same box as if to say, “all fruits taste the same.” Take away my talents, I can still be bounced around the NFL as a great locker room guy, a mentor to the players and a pillar in the community because of my grit. Unfortunately, I do not have a Certified NFLPA Representative backing my skill set although many acknowledge that I work hard to sharpen my craft and that I’m doing the right things in life. Still, it often feels as though I continue to get the short end of the stick by the NFL.
I have no concussions, no surgeries and no trouble with the law. If you want to look at statistics, I am not considered a football player if I have not had at least one out of the three.
There are many Free Agents and Collegiate Players that had their share of concussions, surgeries and trouble with the law, but because they have someone in the NFL circle, that player will always get an opportunity. Is it speed that they want? I have film that shows I am always the fastest on the field to this day. Quickness and explosiveness? I have footage of drills and workouts I have done. Looking for big and smart players? I am 6’2,” 215lbs and from my collegiate to my professional career, I have played 8 positions (both corners, all three linebacker positions, nickel, free safety and strong safety), and learned to play in different leagues because each league requires certain techniques, so my football I.Q. is high.
I am not your average athlete. My DNA is superb, and it allows me to do what most athletes are not able to do statistically. I take great care of my mind-body-spirit because I know I am different. The terrible thing about statistics, however, is that most people only live off the downside. We rarely hear about people living off the upside. Why? Because they are afraid to be wrong.
It is 2020. Nothing is normal anymore, so it is time to take chances and go against the grain; lets live on the upside of statistics rather than the downside – hope is frail but it is hard to kill.
