It struck me as I sought refuge from the sun.
Sunday was a cloudless, unseasonably warm day in central Florida where the latest UFL Showcase was held. Finding a sliver of shade between the men's and women's bathrooms, I sat on the ground waiting for the afternoon session to begin. In front of me, just beyond the chain-link fence, was the sign-in area.
Players who had arrived formed a long, single-file line. Many of them carried duffel bags with the logo of their college or even pro team they played for. They'd step up to the tent, give their last name, and receive a t-shirt with a three-digit number emblazoned on it. They were then directed toward the nearest end zone, behind which they'd have the opportunity to warm up.
It wasn't sexy. There wasn't any pomp-and-circumstance surrounding it. It was the player, the field, and some coaches. For many, a far cry from how they imagined their professional football experience.
Often, we romanticize the UFL Showcases in that players from small schools who've been overlooked get an opportunity to shock the world and potentially earn a pro contract. But mixed in with those players are ones that have been on the mountaintop of college football, where expectations of NFL draft pick status and million-dollar contracts were standard.
Shea Patterson was a five-star prospect coming out of high school. He played for the Michigan Wolverines in front of 110,000 people at The Big House. Since then, he's spent five stints with CFL teams as well as a period of time in the USFL. At the UFL Showcase, he had his baseball cap on, throwing to receivers he'd never met before.
Chasen Hines won a National Championship with the LSU Tigers in 2019. He heard his name called as a sixth-round draft pick of the New England Patriots in 2022. It's now been more than two years since he's seen even NFL pre-season action. Hines was there, doing drills, running a 40-yard dash that experts say you'll never have to run again after you do so in your pre-draft workouts.
Justin Jones played at the University of Auburn. He had a few moments this pre-season with the Seattle Seahawks before being cut, like so many others at the end of August. Few at this tryout even had that exhibition opportunity, though. I spoke to Jones's dad, a 27-year veteran of the Birmingham Police Department. He and his wife took the one-hour flight from Birmingham to Orlando to support their son. Dad lit up when he spoke about the plays his son made in his short time with Seattle. Jones's agent suggested this UFL Showcase for him as a way to get his foot back in the pro football door - he's had few bites of interest since August.
These are the players that have to put their egos, their accomplishments aside in an effort for one last shot at glory. Maybe they'll earn a UFL contract out of this. Maybe they'll make the team out of training camp. Maybe they'll perform well enough during the season to get back on the NFL radar for a workout. And maybe, just maybe, that workout will turn into an NFL contract. That's a lot of maybes. But that's why they're out there.
Or it could be that they just can't give up the dream of playing pro football. Perhaps the NFL is a distant memory for them. The lure of continuing to put on the shoulder pads and helmet, to be in that locker room and to experience the camaraderie shared within. You can't duplicate that in any other line of work. For some, they're not ready to let go of that feeling.
Oh sure, there were others, the long shots. Anthony Queeley was there, the former Georgia Southern Eagle. He was present both on the field and off: His girlfriend was wearing a shirt with his picture on it. I had to ask her about it. She said it was made during his Georgia Southern days, and he gifted it to her. They traveled from Apopka, Florida, about an hour drive. She was there, holding an umbrella to shield the sun, supporting her man.
Queeley, like many other receivers, knew this was an important day. You could see it on the faces of every receiver who had balls bounce off their hands and hit the ground as they were running routes. The margin for error at these workouts is so slim, even one drop can disintegrate your chances of moving on.
The Orlando Showcase was chock full of talent. It would not surprise me if several players who worked out there are signed or drafted by UFL teams. To even get to that point, however, many players from elite programs, who were stars in high school and Big Men on Campus in college, needed to put everything aside to show up at a high school in the middle of Florida on a scorching Sunday afternoon. The fact that they even did that, regardless of performance, is a credit to their humility and their belief in themselves.