PA Season Ticket Holder
04-30-2003, 08:26 PM
(April 29, 2003) -- For the past two months, you've been reading constantly about 40-yard dash times, but the real race began at 5:23 p.m. ET on April 27. That's 15 hours and one minute (in selection time) after the start of the 2003 NFL Draft, and that's when the race began for NFL teams to sign undrafted college free agents.
If you think players who didn't make the Round 7 cut aren't that important, think again. For example, 59 players who weren't drafted make opening day rosters in the NFL last year, which is impressive, but still down from 62 players in 2000 and 2001. Also in 2002, 43 undrafted free agents were considered starters -- that list includes players such as Jeff Garcia, Kurt Warner, Priest Holmes, Jon Kitna, Jason Ball, Will Demps, Rod Smith, Kenny Watson, Shelton Quarles ... and so on. A host of kickers, including Adam Vinatieri and Jay Feely, are included. Years ago, players such as Cliff Harris, Drew Pearson and Tony Dungy qualified as undrafted free agents.
http://nfl.com/draft/story/6343591
If you think players who didn't make the Round 7 cut aren't that important, think again. For example, 59 players who weren't drafted make opening day rosters in the NFL last year, which is impressive, but still down from 62 players in 2000 and 2001. Also in 2002, 43 undrafted free agents were considered starters -- that list includes players such as Jeff Garcia, Kurt Warner, Priest Holmes, Jon Kitna, Jason Ball, Will Demps, Rod Smith, Kenny Watson, Shelton Quarles ... and so on. A host of kickers, including Adam Vinatieri and Jay Feely, are included. Years ago, players such as Cliff Harris, Drew Pearson and Tony Dungy qualified as undrafted free agents.
http://nfl.com/draft/story/6343591