Undrafted Players Meet Big Dreams and Long Odds at NFL Rookie Camps

At the Detroit Lions rookie camp last weekend, head coach Jim Caldwell gathered together the 59 young men trying to earn one of a handful of chances to work for him this year.

On the whiteboard, Caldwell's staff had put up the list of all the undrafted free agents and tryout guys who were already on the roster or had gone on to other teams and made significant contributions. He reminded them of Malcolm Butler, the New England Patriots defensive back who'd been signed as a tryout and made a Super Bowl-winning interception.

"You do have an opportunity," Caldwell told them, per a quote sheet provided to Bleacher Report by the team. "You better make the best of it."

Rob Bolden was one of the 59 young men sitting in that room. He wasn't one of the nine qualified one-year veterans, seven draft picks or 12 undrafted free-agent signings. He was one of the 31 tryout guys, there for a chance at a chance for a chance to make the roster.

"It was pretty cool, to see that," Bolden told Bleacher Report. "I had heard things like that before, but I'd never seen it broken down like that. A lot of guys come from down under and make their way up. Once you get into these camps, you have an opportunity to show what you can do. You just have to do everything you can to put your best foot forward, and make sure they have a lasting impression of you."

The Detroit native took a long, winding road to see his NFL dream realized. He came out of Detroit-area prep school Orchard Lake St. Mary's as a 4-star dual-threat quarterback, per Rivals.com, and committed to Penn State.

Andrew Nelles/Associated Press

From being Joe Paterno's first true-freshman quarterback to start a season opener, to transferring to LSU, to transferring to Eastern Michigan, to going undrafted, Bolden's college career didn't go as he—or anyone—planned.

In the end, though, he was in that room, same as all the others.

"I was just hoping to get my foot in the door, to get a chance to play for a program I've been watching, I've been around, I loved watching," Bolden said. Despite spending most of his life working toward this opportunity, he said it was "surreal" to finally make it.

The realization hit Indianapolis Colts running back Tyler Varga hard, too.

"I don't think reality really set in until I got here, and they gave me my helmet and my jersey with my number on it," Varga told Bleacher Report. "I'm sitting there thinking like, 'Wow, this is the final level,' you know? Every other time you go to another level you think, 'There's still something else, there's still something else,' but this is the last level. There's nothing else after this."

Varga might need the NFL less than any other would-be rookie. The Yale bruiser maintained a 3.56 GPA while studying pre-med. As he told Bleacher Report's Dan Hope, he balanced starring in the Senior Bowl and preparing for the combine with thesis-writing, speech-giving and intense lab and coursework. With a potentially lucrative career in medicine awaiting him, no one would blame Varga for taking his shot with the Indianapolis Colts lightly. Instead, he's giving it his all.

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"It's an honor to be here," Varga said. "I'm just prepared to work for everything. You get what you earn. I've always been a high-motor guy with a good work ethic; I'm just trying to show it out here. Obviously, being an undrafted guy, you've gotta be on top of your stuff."

That's a challenge Bolden is trying to meet.

"It's a lot of pressure," Bolden said. "These minicamps are definitely a strenuous thing, from a mental standpoint." A quarterback has to learn a cut-down version of an entire offense in just a few days before going out on the field; learning not only new concepts, but entirely new names for familiar ones, makes classroom cramming incredibly hard.

Paradoxically, rookie camp competition—in May, with everyone on the same team, and nothing at stake—can be fierce. Caldwell shared an interesting perspective about the edge he sees undrafted players come in with:

"

I was doing a speech, and I came across some information that looked at the percentage of immigrants that come into our country that become millionaires as opposed to the percentage of people that are in this country because they come to this country and they say, "Man, you know what? I’ve got a great opportunity. I can do things in this country I couldn’t do in my country." But yet, we have some people that live in our country that look at life in sort of a defeated sort of way in terms of their approach. I think the same thing kind of happens with free agents. They come in, they say, "Man, I’m glad to be here. I’m going to do everything I can do to stay here." Where you may have some other guys that are just here and not really understanding that there’s someone else coming to take your position, but I think they do.

"

Varga was a priority free agent, a surprise draft snub signed shortly after the lottery was over. Their mutual interest made for a great opportunity—but Varga, like Caldwell said, takes zero comfort in that.

"Anyone in my position—first round, undrafted, tryout, whatever—has a mountain to climb," Varga said. "Any rookie that comes in and is complacent in their spot on the roster is gonna be out of here pretty quick. There's 100 football players in this building, and they're all capable. They're all talented guys, they're all athletic, and if you don't want it more than them they're going to take it from you."

Jacksonville Jaguars safety Desmond Cooper is one of those guys who want it a little more.

Gary McCullough/Associated Press

The Jacksonville native was pleased to be one of the 28 players invited to try out—and he made the most of his chance. After rookie camp, Cooper became the first UNC Charlotte 49er ever to sign an NFL contract, per the school's official site, joining the Jags along with just four other tryout players

"It was different," Cooper told Bleacher Report, "because nothing is for sure. You just have to go out there and put out your best performance; you don't know what's going to happen at the end of it." With just a few days, sometimes just one or two practices, for a player to show what he's got on the field, there's an enormous amount of pressure packed into every rep.

"Everything is a little magnified," Bolden said. "You don't want to do anything wrong." Bolden was confident he did well, but even the smallest mistakes—unavoidable given the handful of days to learn and prepare before going out on the field—felt huge. "Even the littlest things," he said, "like the cadence. I missed a cadence, and it felt like I just...bombed everything."

Varga and Cooper agreed; undrafted players have zero margin for error.

"At any moment, I could get cut," Cooper said, "but at the same time, you're still playing the game you love, so you just have to go out and perform." His disarming matter-of-factness reveals both the clarity with which he saw his situation, and the calm with which he attacked it. Varga, instead, worked overtime to eliminate every error from his performance.

"Everybody says you get one chance to mess up, as an undrafted guy," Varga said. "I'm just trying to make no mistakes, stay on top of my playbook and stay on top of the game."

Bolden found two keys to keeping up with the veterans: putting in extra time to be as prepared as possible, and never missing an opportunity to learn.

"The biggest thing is just the time-management aspect," Bolden said. "A lot of people don't realize how much work it is until you get your foot in the door and have to go through it."

Bolden made sure he always kept notepad and pencil close by at all times, a habit he picked up from the coaches at LSU. Varga didn't have Bolden's experience at elite D-I programs, but still feels he's adapted quickly to the NFL.

"I'm not culture-shocked, I'm not overwhelmed. I feel I can compete with everyone here," Varga said. "It almost has a college-like feel, like I've just transferred to another school. Obviously it's a little higher-caliber of play," he said through a chuckle, "but there's a little of that family feel, and the vets are willing to help the younger guys out."

Cooper seemed eminently comfortable, despite jumping from the FCS to the NFL.

"You gotta have confidence," Cooper said. "You're just as good as anybody else, you can play with anybody else. Just because you're an undrafted free agent doesn't mean you can't play at this level; it just means you're one of those guys who went unseen, who went under the radar. You just have to go out and perform every day."

In the end, of course, it's a numbers game: The Lions, Colts and Jaguars are only going to keep so many quarterbacks, running backs and safeties. Are the rookies counting the guys ahead of them and trying to climb the depth chart?

"I can't control any of that stuff," Varga said. "All I can control is how hard I work, how well I know my playbook and how I take care of my body. I can't control the decisions the coaching staff makes, so I'm not going to worry myself about it. I'm going to be the best player I can be, and if that fits what's trying to happen here, then that's awesome."

And what if he doesn't fit? What if things don't work out in Indianapolis? What if he's cut before OTAs, or during training camp or in August? Why not take his degree and his research and move on to a different career, still far more challenging and rewarding than many will ever have a chance to pursue?

"I'm trying to live out my dream right now," Varga said. "I've always wanted to play football for a living and this is my opportunity. I come from a background where I've had the opportunity to get a good education, and that's a blessing, but right now I'm focusing on this game, and I'll worry about all that stuff when I'm done."

Varga vowed that as much as he wants to catch on with the Colts, not doing so would just mean he'd move on to the next NFL opportunity.

But what about Cooper, for whom there's no easy fallback? A small-school prospect who's all-in on long odds?

"I take it day by day," Cooper said. "I don't think about what's next for me, what I'll end up doing. All I'm thinking about doing is what I'm doing right now. Right now, I'm a football player, and that's what I plan to continue to be." Cooper, having just risen above not only 23 other tryout players, but four veterans released to make room, isn't taking anything for granted.

"This is one of those things that every kid dreams of doing," Cooper said, "but at the same time you have to humble yourself and realize there's still more work to do today. Nothing is for sure in this league. You could be gone, lose your spot, or get injured. The biggest thing is just to know that every time you go out there could be your last time."

That's exactly what unsigned tryout players like Bolden are hoping for.

"It's a waiting game," Bolden said. "People get traded, people get cut. What I can do to help myself is just keep doing what I've been doing." Beside staying in game shape, Bolden plans to continually review his thorough notes on the Lions offense, keeping himself ready to excel in case his phone rings.

If that call comes through, the rookie camp experience gave Bolden an invaluable taste of what teams like the Lions will expect from him in OTAs or training camp.

"It was a good introduction to what guys go through," Bolden said. "Just being able to walk around, put on a Lions uniform, practice games, go through the whole routine of being a professional. You walk through the door, you get your playbook and that's your life."

If Bolden's phone never rings again—and for hundreds of rookie camp invitees, it won't—he'll spend his life savoring the week he played in the NFL.