A true case of never say never.
27-year old UMass tight end Jean Sifrin may find himself playing in the NFL next season, largely because of this freakishly athletic catch he made in his first division I game last September against Colorado:
The 6-5, 245-pound Sifrin’s road to the NFL is anything but typical. As a child he was never really in a stable environment, which impacted his academic ability. After being placed in a situation MANY young student-athletes face, that is, losing interest in the “STUDENT” part of the equation; Sifrin chose to drop out of school at age 17 in order to use his time to work and earn a living.
After bouncing between jobs, having a child, getting in some trouble, and finally settling at UMass, Sifrin is now in a position to realize his lifelong dream of playing in the NFL. A fairly strong performance at the league’s combine six weeks ago could go a long way to help his chances. His results are as follows:
He ran the 40 in 4.84 seconds, leapt 33 inches in the vertical jump and 114 in the broad jump. His arms measured 33 3/8 inches long, his spread hands 11 inches from thumb to pinkie. At his pro day he unofficially shaved his 40 time to 4.75 and bench-pressed 225 pounds 15 times.
I’m rooting for Jean Sifrin, let me tell you why. Some may not understand this, but for certain people, college isn’t the way. Yes, an education is very important, however in many cases we find ourselves in positions where we need to make a living rather than pay now to earn one later. Sifrin may not hear his name called to join the NFL, and to him that is okay. He makes adjustments. Just because he didn’t take the same route as the majority of the other prospects, doesn’t mean he can’t earn himself a spot on a roster AND an NFL paycheck. Check out the full feature on MMQB, it’s definetly worth the read, as well as the video piece found below:
[h/t MMQB]