Keeping up with local pro football players ...
The time has come for DeVonte Peterson.
The Catawba College All-American defensive lineman is flying out today to Rochester, N.Y. to begin his first real job.
That’s why he attended college, after all, to prepare him for life after dorm rooms and mid-terms. And the job Catawba prepped him for is professional football.
Peterson is a Buffalo Bill and tomorrow, training camp begins.
“I’m ready for it,” said the 6-foot-4, 275-pound monster.
Peterson isn’t the only local name beginning training camps. John Milem, a West Rowan graduate, is beginning his second season with the San Francisco 49ers. Catawba’s Radell Lockhart is with Jacksonville. Kannapolis’ Mike Morton has signed with Indianapolis.
And North Rowan’s Shannon Myers may have seen the last of his playing days, according to his agent.
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Peterson has been here since June 23, working out, saying goodbye to friends for possibly the last time and keeping his body in shape. He did travel to Buffalo for a couple of mini-camps but this is the real deal.
“Has it hit me yet?” Peterson wondered aloud. “Not yet. It probably won’t until the end of preseason.”
Which means Peterson is quite confident he will make the Bills, despite not being drafted. He was a free agent signee.
“I think my chances are real good,” said Peterson, whose senior season was curtailed by a leg injury in the final regular season game at Lenoir-Rhyne. “Buffalo runs the same scheme that we did in college. And football is still football. My ankle’s doing much better. I feel good.”
Peterson has realized that professional coaches are a wee bit different from the ones he had at Catawba. Once a mini-camp was over, there was little love shown. This is a business and you’re supposed to be a man. no more coddling.
In fact, he said the coaches really didn’t said much of anything to him.
“When one camp ended, they just said, ‘Come back for the next one.’
“They give you ultimatums,” Peterson said of the workouts. “If you do it, good. Go to the next assignment.
“If not, you go home.”
Coaches have told Peterson what they want from his body. In college, he appeared to be a rock, the perfect football specimen. In the pros, there’s work to be done.
“They want me at 275, 277, something like that,” he said. “But they want my body fat down.”
Peterson’s agent Joe Linta, said his client may end up on the practice squad.
“It’s tough to make the varsity when you’re not drafted and you come from a small school,” said Linta. “It’s an uphill battle.”
Peterson, who hails from little Clinton, N.C., was not in awe of Buffalo during his first trip there.
“I realized all of the rookies were just like me,” he said. “We all clicked together and had a lot of laughs. After training camp, we’ll go back and try to find some apartments.”
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Peterson’s running mate on the defensive line last year, Radell Lockhart, is still with the Jacksonville Jaguars and is a strong possibility for a practice squad spot.
“The personnel director likes him a lot,” said Linta. “He’s just raw. But they might move him to (middle) linebacker.”
Lockhart has been doing all he can. The 6-4, 280-pounder, has been working out with the Jaguars and then hitting the ocean to build up his stamina.
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Linta says this may be a make-or-break year for Milem, his favorite client.
“You mean my illegitimate son?” laughed Linta.
“This year is important,” he added. “Milem could go big-time or level off. But everybody I’ve talked with tells me he is playing with more confidence. He knows he belongs.”
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And then, there’s Myers, whose career may be over, according to Linta.
Myers was playing in NFL Europe and was poised to make a run with the New York Jets. But he was injured and missed most of the year.
The Jets soon released him.
“He was healed enough to pass the physical but they let him go,” Linta said. “Bill Parcells leaving hurt his chances.
“Can he still play? Yes. But he has not been in a situation where he could get the right break. He may not play anymore. He’s sick of the B.S.”
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4256 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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