Antonio Gates, who played only basketball in college, enjoyed slam-dunk success last year as a San Diego Chargers tight end.
Former NCAA and world wrestling titlist Stephen Neal, another no-show in college football, started at guard for the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
That doesn’t mean NFL teams will round up power forwards and grapplers in droves at this weekend’s draft and in subsequent free agent signings.
But as tight as rosters are with the 80-man training camp limit, there are still players without typical résumés to be found. That inspires the likes of NCAA wrestling champ Greg Jones of West Virginia, set to work out for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday, and Mercer University basketball forward Wesley Duke, who showed his stuff for NFL scouts this month.
“When I saw Antonio Gates, I was like, ‘Yeah, I could do that,’ ” says the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Duke, who last played tight end in high school. “Really, I’m probably not big enough for the NBA. But I can do football.”
Well aware of Gates’ success, Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs says his team’s scouts have worked out some basketball players on campus visits this year.
“Anytime somebody has success doing something, we’re all copycats, “Gibbs says. “There are a lot of tight ends running around in that NBA Draft.”
An alley-oop away from NFL
After finishing his career at Mercer, Duke placed fourth in the dunk contest at the Final Four. He jammed with a pen between his teeth and signed autographs. He used pom-poms in a post-slam dance. Sounds like Terrell Owens, but he wants to be the next Gates.
Gates was signed as a free agent by the Chargers two seasons ago out of Kent State. Last season he caught 13 touchdown passes and became a Pro Bowl starter.
ComingFrom Aother Sport
Duke worked out April 7 for scouts from Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Carolina, the New York Giants and Green Bay, says his agent, Virgil Adams, and for Denver last Saturday.
Adams says Duke ran the 40-yard dash in 4.72 seconds. “He doesn’t even know how to run a 40… He could easily run a sub-4.7, “Adams says.
The agent has sent a video of Duke in the dunk contest and his workout to every NFL club. “One (NFL) guy, and I won’t name him, but he said, ‘I had a shot at Gates… I’m not going to make the same mistake twice,’ ” Adams says.
Between his senior year of high school and his early years at Mercer, Duke tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee three times and had it surgically repaired each time.
Mercer basketball coach Mark Slonaker says Duke, redshirted twice, has been healthy the past three seasons.
“He’s still a leaper, “Slonaker says. “And Wes catches alley-oops for us. He’s got people hanging on him. So you know he has good hands.”
Duke hopes to do alley-oops to the end zone. “I can go get it, “he says.
Jones, an all-conference defensive back at Greensburg Salem High School in western Pennsylvania, won the NCAA wrestling championship in the 184-pound class this spring, the third NCAA title of his four-year career at West Virginia. He’s eyeing an Olympic berth in 2008.
But he talked with Pittsburgh director of football operations Kevin Colbert when the Steelers were working out West Virginia football players in March. That led to the Steelers inviting Jones to work out Friday.
“Wrestling is the more realistic career path, but this whole football thing is at least something I have to look at and take advantage of if I can, “says Jones, a possible defensive back. “I’ve always loved football.”
Jones, a shade over 6 feet, says that two years ago he was timed at 4.45 in the 40.
“He’s all athlete, “says Zeke Jones, assistant wrestling coach at WVU. “Everybody (in the NFL) is looking for a burst of speed. That’s exactly what Greg is.”
Nothing new about the practice
In 1962, the Dallas Cowboys signed Utah State basketball player Cornell Green as a free agent. He played 13 seasons at defensive back and made five Pro Bowls.
“We had very good success with basketball players, “says former Cowboys personnel boss Gil Brandt.
In Super Bowl X, the Cowboys had three former college basketball players: running back Preston Pearson (originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts), wide receiver Percy Howard and tight end Ron Howard.
Some got away to the NBA, such as 1967 Dallas draft pick Pat Riley of Kentucky.
Some NFL teams would bring 120-plus players to camp. In 1989, the NFL limited training camp rosters to 80. Bringing in non-football players got more problematic.
“With the 80-man roster, it’s tough, “says Ozzie Newsome, Baltimore Ravens general manager.
“If you’ve got a kid that needs development, if you put him on the developmental squad, somebody might be able to take him off that.”
But Newsome says the Ravens keep scouting: “When we’re on campus at workouts, we have track athletes, wrestlers and basketball players… We’re always looking to find more talent.”
There is still competition with the NBA. University of Pittsburgh forward Chevon “Chevy “Troutman, a 6-foot-7, 240-pounder with a tight end body, has had NFL feelers.
“We actually did follow up because we did hear that Chevy was interested. To our knowledge he still is interested in pursuing a basketball career first, “Colbert says.
He also says the first priority is evaluating football players: “If we hear of a kid that maybe is in another sport that wants to work out or try out, we will try to cover it. But we have enough trouble trying to get the football players right.”
Wrestling Gear
