The world of the NFL is an unforgiving one, with only the absolute best of the best managing to reach these heights. Even then, it may be harder to stay in the NFL than it is to actually get there, as countless players get cut before the season begins and never see real action on the field. With the NFL draft now come and gone, the focus for many players will be proving themselves throughout the offseason programs in order to get a shot. According to one former Steelers’ linebacker, some guys just can’t make it, no matter their gifts.
Chad Brown was drafted by the Steelers in the second round of the 1993 draft, spending four years with the team before signing with the Seahawks and bouncing back and forth between the Patriots and Steelers to end his career. Brown was a good player in the NFL, as seen by his two First-team All Pro selections and three Pro Bowls, but on a podcast he frequently appears on called Kill U With Truth, he explained how he felt inadequate compared to Boris Graham, an undrafted free agent linebacker that the Steelers brought in for training camp. As Brown explains, his worries quickly disappeared after the pads went on.
”Boris from West Virginia, my rookie year, Boris was an undrafted linebacker, and the dude looked like a Greek God. He was built, big shoulders, wide lats, super fast, athletic, and I was like, ‘My gosh, I did 225 eleven times, this guy did like 31 times. I ran a 4.7 40, he ran a 4.5. I’m second round, he’s undrafted,” Brown said about how Graham, an undrafted player, seemed like a better player than him on the surface.
“If this is the kind of guys I’m going to be competing against, I don’t know if the NFL is for me. Well, once we put on the pads, it became clear Boris couldn’t play football.”
It’s good to be reminded that not every great athlete is a great football player, as has been seen time and time again. Take former Bengals’ wide receiver John Ross for example. Ross previously held the record for the fastest 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine, and yet, he was a bad NFL player. Just because a player looks the part does not mean they can play the part. Brown went on to explain what became of Graham, and why it forced Head Coach Bill Cowher to hold an emergency meeting.
“And Boris was so bad at football, he left training camp in the middle of the night. So the next day, coach Cowher had to talk about it in the meetings. ‘Hey, guys, if you’re uncertain about what’s happened here and you don’t feel good, at least come talk to me,’” Brown said about what Cowher had to explain to the team after Graham disappeared. “‘Don’t leave here in the middle of the night where we want to call the police and see what happened to you. At least give us assurance that you’re okay before you leave and check out.’”
It is truly a wonder what coaches like Cowher had to think in 1993, before everyone had a cell phone ready to communicate, when they woke up and a player was just gone. It’s a funny scene to imagine, but at the time, it had to be terrifying. Looking back, there’s an element of sadness there too. A player with all the athletic ability in the world, who played in 33 games in college, just vanished in the middle of the night. Today, if a player left in the middle of camp, at least their coach could call or text them.
Just as well, this story presents a case of the harsher side of the NFL, where grown men are trying to achieve a lifelong dream, only to quit before it ever starts due to being crushed by the weight of it all. That kind of pressure isn’t normal, so normal people can’t deal with it. Every athlete who plays in the NFL has a level of mental toughness that no one is born with. Rather, it becomes a part of them as they’ve grown on their journey.
Succeeding as a player in the NFL takes dedication, and as the offseason moves along and events like training camp get closer, it does well to remember just how tough it can be for players. Looking at the undrafted free agents this year, you never know when the next James Harrison or Willie Parker is on the field in training camp. However, as Brown describes, you can tell very quickly when the next Boris Graham is. Looking like an NFL player does not make you an NFL player. Many of those qualities are internal and can’t be seen by the average eye.