Dylan Donahue looks to shed small-school label with Jets

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Dylan Donahue was as far away from a football field as he could imagine, working on an icy roof and wondering what had become of his NFL dreams.

Laying out quarterbacks had been replaced by him laying down shingles in the fall of 2012, when Donahue was helping with his father’s roofing business in Billings, Montana.

After a redshirt season at the University of Montana Western, Donahue left school as poor grades and too much partying made playing football in college, let alone the pros, an unlikely scenario.

“The route I had to take caused me to never give up,” Donahue said during the New York Jets’ three-day rookie minicamp. “I could’ve given up at any point, just like the rest of my friends and my teammates that gave up at some point along the road. “I just decided to keep going.” Nearly five years later, Donahue is a fifth-round draft pick out of Division-II West Georgia, a relentless outside linebacker/defensive end who’s expected to help jumpstart the Jets’ pass rush and be a key contributor on special teams as a rookie.

“It’s been pretty incredible,” Donahue said. “I honestly didn’t expect to get drafted, coming from a small school. It’s a blessing.” And quite the redemption tale. The 24-year-old Donahue, whose father Mitch played four seasons in the NFL with San Francisco and Denver, got off the roof that chilly day and decided to take the advice of a friend: go back to school. He ended up at Palomar College, a junior college in southern California, and rededicated himself to academics and athletics. Donahue had 19 sacks in two seasons there before heading to West Georgia.

Donahue thrived with the Wolves, piling up 25½ sacks in two seasons and establishing himself as a legitimate pro prospect in the process. He went to the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis and impressed scouts and coaches, including Jets outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene.