Today: Mar 28, 2024

Give two Owls a shot at pro ball

Matt GadSports Writer

Seniors Jharron Wallace, a linebacker, and Eli Parks, a running back, have proved a lot to the NE10 Conference and Division II Football over the last four years. Despite coming from a medium-sized Division II state school, they deserve a shot at the next level.

A number of years ago, former star tight end Jerome Cunningham went undrafted but began his professional career in the NFL with the New York Giants after getting a mini-camp invite from the Indianapolis Colts but no contract thereafter.

However, he has definitely made a career out of it. After starting in 2014, Cunningham has played for the Giants and the Tennessee Titans and is currently with the Detroit Lions, having started on their practice squad before serving on the team’s active roster.

This weekend, Jacob Dolegala, who was a star quarterback at Central Connecticut State University, signed an undrafted freeagent contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. David Pindell, the former UConn gunslinger, reached an agreement with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and two other local Division I talents, Jaelin Robinson and T.J. Linta, received deals with the Atlanta Falcons and the Kansas City Chiefs, respectively.

Wallace finished his career with 108 solo tackles, and Parks rushed for 2,447 yards and 24 touchdowns during three years of action after not playing much his freshman year.

Say what you want about Division II football, but they both absolutely deserve chances to show coaches and scouts what they can do. They should have both been invited to Pro Days, but those have come and gone, so the next hope would be getting either an NFL contract or an opportunity to make a team by getting called to come in this summer for a mini-camp workout.

I can not predict the future, but I think at least one of them will crack some sort of opportunity, possibly getting an NFL gig out of a successful set of workouts. There are other options on the table, too , such as playing in Canada or the Arena Football League. They could hope for the opportunity to play in the upcoming XFL. However, I will reiterate: these guys have done more than enough as Owls to get shots to play professional football. Now it is just about the cards falling into place.

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