NEVER TOO LATE
Big Blue embrace undrafted free agents
Every year, the NFL draft comes and goes, and there is a legion of players left overlooked or ignored, every one with a familiar dream. Some latch on with teams as undrafted free agents. One of them, signed by the Giants, has a story that took social media by storm and resonated with many for all the right reasons.
Travis Rudolph, a receiver from Florida State, garnered national attention with a simple act of kindness. Last August, Rudolph, along with several of his Seminoles teammates, visited a middle school in Tallahassee to mingle with students. Rudolph noticed a young boy sitting off to the side, eating lunch at a table by himself, walked over and sat down.
The boy, Bo Paske, is autistic, and Rudolph sat and befriended him, making sure Paske would not eat lunch alone. A parent took a picture and it went viral, as did the heartfelt Facebook post of appreciation by Paske’s mother, Leah, who called Rudolph a hero.
Rudolph caught 153 passes for 2,311 yards and 18 touchdowns at Florida State and will try to make an impression with the Giants. He approached the draft with a heavy heart after his father, Darryl Rudolph, tragically was killed in an accidental shooting last month.
Rudolph is one of 17 undrafted players signed by the Giants, based on social media reports from players and schools.
The Giants take great pride in their ability to identify, sign and develop players who were overlooked or ignored in the draft. Currently, they have hopes for safety Andrew Adams, defensive end Romeo Okwara and receiver Roger Lewis Jr., all players brought in a year ago as rookie free agents. The Giants won their two most recent Super Bowls with strong contributions from undrafted players they uncovered, such as Rich Seubert, Chase Blackburn, Henry Hynoski and Jake Ballard. Of course, the patron saint of undrafted free agents with the Giants is Victor Cruz.
Heading into this year’s draft, there were more undrafted players (481) on NFL rosters than there were first- and secondround picks (480), according to Elias Sports Bureau. The Giants are anchored on defense by linebacker and defensive captain Jonathan Casillas, who was not drafted out of Wisconsin, and Damon Harrison, who was not drafted out of William Penn.
It is not unusual for the Giants to express more excitement about a player or two they pluck off the undrafted free-agent heap than they are about a late-round draft pick.
“It feels good when it’s over,” Giants’ vice president of player evaluation Marc Ross said moments after the sixth round Saturday, the last round his team had a selection. “But it’s not over because we have all these undrafted free agents. Got to start attacking, and this is really the fun part right now. Everything else was structured and easy. This process is very hectic.’’
The Giants are not afraid to throw some money at a few undrafted players they are especially eager to sign. Dollars don’t hurt, of course, and wooing these often-disappointed players — passed over in all seven rounds of the draft — is a part of the player procurement system the Giants embrace.
“We try to make those guys feel special throughout the process,” Ross said. “We host players here. We try to stay in contact with them, almost as if it’s college recruiting. So we want those guys to feel special so when the time comes and we’re calling them, it’s not just a coach going down a list and checking off who is next. It’s that they actually feel like the New York Giants want them to be a part of this organization.”
Sometimes Ross or scouts make the calls. Sometimes assistant coaches make the sales pitch.
“We try to hit them with everything that we’ve got,” Ross said.
You want a player to arrive with a chip on his shoulder? There is a busload of them waiting to report. Jessamen Dunker, an offensive lineman from Tennessee State, was projected to be a fourth- or fifth-round pick but never got a call. He will get the chance to prove everyone wrong. He posted on Twitter: “Proud to be a New York Giant, but mark my words, every team that passed up on [me] will pay dearly in the long run. That’s a promise.”