Tommy to the Raiders

[BobcatDel]

There are not that many guys that jump from FCS to active NFL rosters right away. Troy obviously did, but he's a freak and was not learning a new position. Thinking of singleton, Daniel hardy, Okada, pretty sure Mike person was a practice squad guy for awhile. To name a few. Tommy looks to have a winding road ahead if he wants to make football a career but we all know he's capable.

Great point. I would add that very few FCS and lower players have left a big mark on the NFL. Most are backups and special teams players. I just looked at the list of the top 20 FCS players to play in the Pro Bowl and I only recognized about the half the names. One was Randy Moss, who actually only played one year in the FCS. Jan Stenerud is the only MSU player I can think of that made the Pro Bowl. I'm not sure if any Griz players have. Maybe Scott Gragg? Bierman? Stenerud, Kupp and Jared Allen are probably the most prominent NFL players out of the Big Sky. Roos? Singleton is making a push.

Could totally be spacing someone out but my point is that it's hard to make the NFL and if you do, you're probably not going to be a household name even among people who follow the FCS. Most players are in the Colt Anderson, Daniel Hardy, Jordan Tripp, Ty Okada mold...players that have to survive the cut year in and year out. Mellott, should he ever make it, would probably be in that group, which is really about the most you can hope for. Busting through to the top of the league is super rare. When you are that good, you still have to avoid getting sidetracked by injuries, like Andersen.

There were more from smaller schools that are leaving or left a mark.
- Kurt Warner No Iowa
- Richard Dent Tennessee St
- Michael Strahan Texas Southern
- Terry Bradshaw LA Tech (yeah it’s FBS now but not then)
- Tyreek Hill from West Alabama
- Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State) and Terrell Owens (Chattanooga)…pretty sure they kinda left itty bitty marks in the receiving world…at least the videos I have seen with them torching DBs
- I would argue a guy named Walter Payton fits the bill from Jackson State which was not exactly a powerhouse
- there are more if I did some research

If we’re using examples from 30 years ago, those are poor examples that don’t reflect the times.

Tyreek Hill went to a small school because of off field issues. He was at Oklahoma State before getting kicked off.

Don’t reflect the times??? 30 years ago is 1995. Are you saying they weren’t quality athletes in 1995….or those athletes wouldn’t compete in today’s game at the college or NFL level….or as others said African American athletes were not on 1995 teams (someone better look at the rosters from that time).
They are fine examples of small school FCS or lower division athletes that were successful in the NFL at the highest level.

Tyreek Hill actually started at Garden City Community College (a small school) before Oklahoma State. And staff at Garden City and Ok State worked with West Alabama Coach to give him another chance. No reason Ok St couldn’t have done the same…..but politically not acceptable in this era.