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Romberg's Strange Journey Shows That Sometimes, The Scouts Can Be Wrong
While the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, often times, a more scenic route is taken.
Imagine you’re a football player from Windsor, Ontario. You go to one of the premiere college football programs in the United States and are awarded a starting position as a Sophomore. You anchor the team’s offensive line for three years and, as a Senior, win the Dave Rimington Award as the nation’s best center, and you’re a finalist for the Outland Trophy awarded to the country’s best interior lineman. You’re a first team All-American, and you feel confident that you’re ready to take the next step to the NFL.
But, there’s a problem. You don’t measure up in the eyes of the scouts. You are considered “undersized” and when the draft arrives, your name isn’t called.
A glimmer of hope emerges when you are signed as an undrafted free agent by the Jacksonville Jaguars but, over the next three years, you never make it above the practice squad. You continue to work hard and hope that you’ll get your chance.
Then, one day you get a call. The St. Louis Rams need a center, and your former position coach, Paul Boudreau, is now with that team and has recommended you. Before long, you’re on the field, and you play well. The season ends, but you are now the front runner to be an NFL starter.
That’s Brett Romberg’s story.
Not exactly a conventional way to acquire a starting center, but who’s to say it won’t work out? Need I bring up Kurt Warner and London Fletcher to make the “diamonds in the rough” argument?
Of course, Romberg is different. He’s not some schlock that nobody could have seen as a potential NFL success. He was the top center in the country after starting three years for one of the best NFL “prep schools” of all time. Maybe the scouts got this one wrong. With all the draft “busts” over the years, its not exactly difficult to believe that players also sometimes simply slip through the cracks.
So, as we approach free agent and draft season, remember that to build a winner, its not only important to do well on the first day of the draft or with major free agent acquisitions. Sometimes, if you ignore the 40 times, the measurements and the hype, and instead just watch game film, you’ll find a player that no other team wants, but who will help you win games.
There are Brett Rombergs out there. We just have to find them.
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Chip, get off your behind, get rid of the old guard or put the team on the block!
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