This summer has been a whirlwind of confusion for football fans across the nation, as the hard-nosed NFL Players Association and the NFL owners try to ink a new collective bargaining agreement. Slowly, the collateral damage is trickling throughout the entire NFL.
Players are left in a bind. With athletes unable to communicate with coaches, use training facilities or sign free agent contracts, they are feeling a wide array of drawbacks that come with a stagnant summer.
One of those players is former Cal Poly wide receiver Dominique Johnson.
“It’s very frustrating to me, because of the position I am in,” said Johnson, who was not selected in this year’s NFL Draft. “I’m hoping that they get this whole lockout stuff squared away. It is taking a lot longer than it should.”
Johnson is in the small group of football players affected the most by this debate: undrafted players trying to sign free-agent contracts. Without the ability to negotiate contracts, free agents like Johnson have to wait until a collective bargaining agreement is signed until they can start negotiations with teams.
“In past years, 10 minutes after the draft ends, guys are getting called from teams, signing free-agent contracts,” Johnson said. “It’s hurt me a lot in the aspect of not being able to work out with a team, not being able to develop the camaraderie with the guys or timing with the quarterbacks.”
In turn, when, or if, his opportunity does come, the chances he makes an active roster only becomes smaller. Undrafted free agents are the kids picked last on the NFL playground. Their game has been shoved under the microscope, revealing flaws that have led no team to try and take a chance and draft them.
Instead, once the draft is over, they are thrown a thin contract, and are asked to prove themselves by working their way up through practice squads and special teams to eventually land a spot on an 53-man roster.
But that isn’t discouraging to Johnson, who caught 90 receptions for 1,375 yards and 10 touchdowns in his Cal Poly career. He’s waited long enough for his shot at his childhood dream and isn’t ready to call it quits just yet.
D-Day
Johnson has never before watched the entire three-day, seven-round NFL Draft.
“Ever since it went to the three-day format, I’ve only watched the first day and then part of the second day,” Johnson said. “This year, it was every pick. I sat around for the entire weekend.”
Johnson seemed to be the type of possession receiver who would be appealing to a team. He was the type of player Cal Poly’s triple-option relied in heavily. He led the team in receptions (47) a season ago, more than doubling Mark Rodgers’ second-place 20 receptions, and racked up 400 more yards more than the team’s next closest receiver.
He sure made an impression on current Cal Poly quarterback Andre Broadous.
“I’ve never seen him drop a pass in a game,” Broadous said. “He said he has been working on his speed, so when you add that speed intangible with the ball skills, size and route running, I think that is a pretty impressive receiver.”
But round by round, pick by pick, Johnson’s name didn’t flash across the TV.
“I was just watching, and every time I saw a receiver get pulled off the board I thought it was a good thing,” Johnson said. “Just because it would get me closer to the range that I was projected to go.”
A total of 28 receivers were taken. They came from schools as well known as Georgia, Stanford and USC or as unknown schools, such as Abilene Christian or Mount Union. But, Johnson was not a part of that group.
“I thought at least the latest he would go was the sixth round,” Broadous said. “His combine numbers were better than predicted, but I guess you never know.”
Double-edged sword
Former Cal Poly linebacker Marty Mohamed is in the same predicament as Johnson. After ending Cal Poly with a 88-tackle senior season, the former standout at linebacker is, too, looking to continue playing football.
“There is no knowledge of what is going on, you can’t talk to anybody, you don’t know what is going to happen, nobody really knows when this lockout is going to lifted,” Mohamed said. “So players are thinking: do I need to find a job, do I need to continue working on football, do I need to stay in shape, where do I go?”
The NFL is often depicted as one of the most difficult professional sport leagues to get accustomed to. Rookies often undergo numerous mandatory summer workouts, from position drills to one-on-one skill building exercises with coaches, to improve the chances for the players to see the playing field come fall.
As a result of the lockout, no players can undergo any of those training processes. However, Mohamed said Johnson has the ability to make an NFL roster.
“I definitely think he’s got the talent to play,” Mohamed said. “He showed it at Cal Poly, and he showed it at UCLA. He is a professional guy and he is a professional man. He can definitely get out there and make plays.”
But the big question is: are teams going to even bring on rookies?
With veterans, who already know the playbook and currently hold roster spots, some argue bringing on rookies, who will have to be taught their new team’s entire new playbook, might just be a waste of time.
“Nobody really knows if teams are going to bring on a rookie or not,” Mohamed said. “I’ve heard some teams won’t bring in rookies unless they are drafted. I know previously teams were very high on whether they want to bring him in, but with the whole lockout thing, it’s a tough situation to analyze because no one really knows. It’s just a big question mark.”
Manual labor
In the process of waiting, Johnson’s decided to pick up a part-time job.
“Rather than sitting in front of the TV or computer all day just waiting to see a breaking news update, I am actually able to get out other than the two to three hours that I workout and be around other people,” Johnson said. “Have a chance to pass time making money.”
He’s working what he likes to call manual labor at the loading docks for a trucking and shipping company called Estes West.
“I am pretty much just driving a forklift around all day, doing a little bit of manual labor, but I look at it as partially a little workout for me,” Johnson said. “So, it kind of works out for me in that aspect.”
Johnson has always been known as a hard worker, and in the midst of working a job and waiting for the lockout to end, he still continues to train. His regimen has changed, though, since the draft ended.
He said he is working more on position-oriented drills, such as route trees, rather than specific speed training. But waiting is taking its toll, and Johnson knows that once a new collective bargaining agreement is signed, he will continue to live a life that just contains football.
He said he remains optimistic that a team will sign him once all of this blows over, and when, or if, that call does come, Johnson has a good idea of the emotions he’ll feel.
“Overwhelming joy,” Johnson said. “I’ve read a number of articles on free agents that went on to have hall of fame careers, so I’m counting on being a free agent and having a big impact on a team … Even though I wasn’t drafted, even just to be put in that situation, a chance to make an NFL team and a chance to continue to pursue my dream would be great.”