I believe that William (the Fridge) Perry of the 85 Bears was a walk on. But I'm not sure. I know that this doesn't happen very often. Most players who walk on start out in a minor league like the AFL or CFL. I'm just not sure if Perry was the only one to every come straight into the NFL or if there are others.
2007-01-11 15:43:17 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Football (American)
Well i didn't say the Fridge was a walk on for sure! If you would pay better attention and read the question you will find that I said "I thought he was but I wasn't sure" There! Now its in 2 paragraphs! If you can't read that I don't know what to tell you! Wouldn't you think that thats why I'm asking this question? We ask when we don't know!
2007-01-11 15:57:13 · update #1
I'm talking about players that have no prior history of playing football.
2007-01-11 16:06:06 · update #2
The Fridge played for Clemson University and was a first round draft pick.
Vince Papale (the movie Invincible) was a non-college football player that played for the Eagles but he played in the World Football League for the Philidelphia Bell for two years until that league collapsed. From those two years there is how he got his invitation for a private workout held by Dick Vermiel.
But as far as an actual walk-on that would be impossible in the NFL. It is used in college football for a player who, on his own will, tries out for the team. In the NFL, a player must be scouted and invited to a workout, in which his skills are tested. So no there has not been a real "walkon" NFL player, but there have been few non-college players that went to the NFL.
2007-01-11 15:54:58 · answer #1 · answered by Tyler E 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Fridge was a first round draft pick from Clemson, so I don't know where you got your info. Maybe he was a walk-on at Clemson, but that doesn't really mean much.
The term walk-on isn't really used in the NFL, as teams do not hold open tryouts. There have been a few select exceptions to this, the Redskins tried holding open tryouts in the 70's under George Allen, and the Eagles copied them under Dick Vermeil who had worked for Allen previously. The Eagles open tryouts and subsequent signing of Vince Papale was the basis of the recent film Invincible.
Now many players enter the NFL through methods other than the draft, but they still are not considered walk-ons, as they are usually recruited, either by scouts catching their performance at an AFL or CFL game, or by coaches who constantly analyze and evaluate the members of the practice squad. Vince Papale, to my knowledge, is the only true NFL walk-on to have ever seen any game time, at least in the modern era
2007-01-11 16:01:30 · answer #2 · answered by john k 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nfl Walk On Tryouts
2016-11-16 08:56:14 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When Buddy Ryan was coaching the Cardinals, there was a fullback named Brian Henesey, who had been an undrafted player out of Bucknell. He went to Cardinals training camp one day disguised as a FedEx delivery man. Eventually he found his way to Ryan and talked the coach into giving him a tryout. He ended up making the final cut and played in a couple games before eventually getting released. He went to camp with the Eagles the following year, but didn't make the team.
Ryan also had a receiver for the Eagles, Marvin Hargrove, who made the team in a similar fashion, posing as a delivery man at training camp, getting a tryout and surviving the final cut. Hargrove played about half a season and was released. He got the nickname "One-for-One" because he caught one pass in his career, and it went for a touchdown.
Those are a couple off the top of my head. I'm sure there are quite a few others besides them and Vince Papale.
2007-01-12 05:16:40 · answer #4 · answered by Jack R 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A walk-on is a term used in conjunction with college football and not usually the NFL. A walk-on is a football player for a college team that was not offered a paid scholarship and joined the team as an extra player after paying his own way to the university.
2007-01-11 16:12:21 · answer #5 · answered by timmy tack 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not exactly sure what you mean by "walk-on".....there has only been one open try-out that I knopw of in recent NFL history...that was the Eagles in 1976 where the only player kept was Vince Papale...There is now a movie about his story by Disney....called "Invincible" starring Mark Wahlberg. If you mean undrafted player then this happens every year on almost every team.
2007-01-11 16:02:51 · answer #6 · answered by HC Storm #13 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Interesting topic!
2016-08-23 15:00:56 · answer #7 · answered by antonia 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Kurt Warner was never drafted...he started his career in the AFL.
2007-01-15 06:02:23 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Was curious on the answer too
2016-08-08 23:48:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no montanna in answer u did newies then him u forgot/ agree.
2007-01-11 16:30:29 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋