Nowhere men: as several players have proved, just because you start your NFL career in obscurity doesn't mean you have to finish it that way

Football Digest, Dec, 2003 by Barry Wilner

KURT WARNER IS THE PATRON of NFL quarterbacks who came out of nowhere and found Super Bowl glory. Tom Brady followed in his footsteps a couple of years later.

But such success stories aren't limited to the QB position. Virtually every NFL roster is dotted with players who went from unknowns to stars. Some of them were low draft picks, while others went undrafted altogether. But they all were hardened by their experiences, became better because of them.

"You learn a lot when you go through some hard times trying to make it," says Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna, who signed with the Seattle Seahawks as a non-drafted free agent in 1996. "It gives you a strong foundation for your career."

Most players build their foundations in college--either in major programs, where they are one of many stars, or at smaller schools, where they are standouts. Generally, they get seen and and are slotted in the draft.

Problems arise, however, when a prospect doesn't attend college or goes to a junior college that is under the NFL's scouting radar. Wide receiver Joe Horn is a perfect example. He attended Itawamba Junior College in Mississippi, then moved to the CFL during its failed experiment with American teams, playing for the Memphis Mad Dogs in 1995. Horn eventually left football altogether and worked in a furniture factory, a Pizza Hut, and as a custodian, all the while hoping that maybe he'd get a shot at the NFL.

"I always had some kind of job," says Horn. "But I was always working to get to the NFL, too. When I was working in a factory, I was making my moves around boxes or machines, throwing things up in the air to work on my catches. I was always trying to get a step ahead."

The Kansas City Chiefs liked what they saw in a private workout and selected Horn in the fifth round of the 1996 draft. He earned a spot on the Chiefs' roster, did well, and then wound up with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent in 2000. Since then, he has been a Pro Bowler.

"I'm glad to have a job and glad to spend every minute I can working to keep it," Horn says. "I had a long, hard journey to get here, so I don't take anything for granted"

That's the altitude of most players who traveled rough roads to the NFL. They remain engaging and down to earth because they are thankful to have made it so far. They know from experience that playing in the NFL beats the heck out of working at a Pizza Hut.

London Fletcher is among the eternally grateful. The 5'9" linebacker was told he was too short and came from a school, John Carroll, that wasn't NFL-caliber. So what did he do? He sent out audition tapes. Believe it or not, the St. Louis Rams took notice.

"I may look at a thousand of these tapes every year during the draft," says Rams general manager Charley Armey, who signed Fletcher as an undrafted free agent in 1998. "I found London Fletcher, and I started researching. The first thing I thought looking at the tape was this guy would be a great special teams player."

As it turns out, Fletcher became much more than a special teams player. In the Rams' Super Bowl-winning 1999 season, he was the starting middle linebacker. And like Horn, he parlayed that surprising success into big-time free-agent dollars, signing with the Buffalo Bills in 2002.

"I want to be an inspiration," Fletcher says. "I want to show the kids that they can succeed in life even when people say they are too small or too short."

Fletcher also speaks for the players who were said to be too slow or whose hands didn't seem good enough or whose arm didn't seem strong enough or whose routes didn't look crisp enough. There are a multitude of players who struggled early, nearly disappearing from the football map before resurfacing and prospering.

Buffalo linebacker Jeff Posey has gone from a nondescript player to a budding star.

Tight end Chad Lewis flopped initially, but he has become a Pro Bowler and clutch third-down performer for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday wasn't drafted but has become a solid performer.

And Marcus Pollard, now among the top tight ends in football, signed with the Colts in 1995 as a free agent out of Bradley, where he had a basketball scholarship. He hadn't played organized football since high school.

"I think the athleticism I needed to play basketball really helped," Pollard says. "Getting open against one-on-one coverage, it's the same way you do it in basketball."

Teams that hit it big with undrafted free agents can't take a lot of credit--there is a lot of luck involved. But the ones that find gems in the late rounds of the draft do deserve to pump themselves up. The Denver Broncos fall into this category. In the backfield, alone--with Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, and Olandis Gary--the Broncos unearthed several star players.

"There's no magic to it," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan says. "It's the product of hard work and having a system you know works, and finding the right players who will produce in that system."

The Baltimore Ravens also have scored in the late rounds. Two regulars on their tough defense, Ed Hartwell and Adalius Thomas, came in the fourth and sixth rounds, respectively.