The man from nowhere is the surprise of camp

The man from nowhere expects to cry Thursday night. He is sure. He was done with football. He sold shoes. He tried the police academy.

It didn’t get much better when, by chance, he played in Canada. He tore up his knee. He nearly quit in that rehab, nearly quit to care for his sick father, nearly gave up on the game or had the game give up on him a dozen times the past few years.

“I know some tears will come [Thursday] to get here,’’ Miami Dolphins linebacker Sam Eguavoen said.

He cried for something as mundane to the outside world as a spring practice, when he put on the Dolphins helmet at his locker for the first time.

“You’re really here,’’ Eguavoen, 26, told himself then.

Now he’s really in his first preseason game. He’s really the starting middle linebacker in many Dolphins defensive schemes. He’s really the surprise of the defense thus far this offseason.

This man from nowhere. “I can’t have the mindset, ‘I

made it,’ because I haven’t made it,’’ he said. “But it’s been a long road to get here.”

This is a season where the door is open to the Eguavoens as the Dolphins rebuild their roster. Undrafted Shaq Calhoun starts at right guard. Undrafted Preston Williams is making a name for himself at receiver. There’s a carousel of players at cornerback opposite Xavien Howard trying to make careers.

Who are they? What can they do? Thursday we start to find out.

“Biggest night of my career,’’ Equavoen said.

Three years ago, undrafted out of Texas Tech, Equavoen sold sneakers at a mall store in Mesquite, Texas, outside of Dallas. He was good at it, too. A customer would ask for shoes, and he’d bring back a full outfit with them to buy.

But six months was enough. “I got tired of seeing my mom, disappointed at seeing me coming back from work, after being at the mall all day,’’ he said. “She knew I should be doing something else.”

He next tried to find a career. He tried the police academy.

That didn’t last long.

“The whole idea of being a cop, putting your life on the line every day, that takes a special person,’’ he said. “It just wasn’t for me.”

All this was part of his road to Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday night. As a star at Texas Tech, he didn’t train seriously, he said. He put Kool-Aid in his Gatorade. He ate fast food rather than healthy food.

But the long months outside of the game changed his mindset. When he saw an ad for Canadian Football League tryouts, he understood what was at stake. He performed well enough to play for Saskatchewan in 2016. So he was on his way, right? “I tore my ACL my first year,’’ he said. “I thought I was cursed.”

Then after a good second season, he almost didn’t return for a third year after his father became ill.

“I was in a situation where I wasn’t sure anyone could care for him, and I didn’t want to go back [to Canada],’’ he said.

Other family members stepped up and Equavoen’s game blossomed last summer in Saskatchewan. He checked all the linebacker boxes: 81 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles, an interception and two touchdowns.

The Dolphins and 12 other teams worked him out. He signed with the Dolphins before Brian Flores was hired as coach. Now, with Flores’ multiplescheme set, with middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan’s pass-coverage questions, Equavoen sees a role.

Dolphins fans see hope in stories such as his, too. He’s undersized at 6-foot and 225 pounds. The last undersized Dolphins linebacker from Texas Tech, Zach Thomas, did just fine.

He’s undrafted and a graduate of Canadian football. The last Dolphins defender with that portfolio, Cameron Wake, did just fine.

For most fans and veteran players, Thursday night is a meaningless game. For

Eguavoen, it will be a moment. The tears will come at his locker before the game, he’s sure.

“It’s a huge blessing to be here,’’ he said. “But once kickoff comes, no emotion. We’re playing for a job here.”

Dave Hyde