Two pro football seasons in one year? The 'unheard of' pursuit of some NFL hopefuls

When Denver Broncos linebacker Dondrea Tillman joined the Birmingham Stallions successful 2022, helium viewed it arsenic a means to an end. With immoderate outpouring occurrence with the then-USFL team, Tillman hoped the NFL would beryllium his adjacent stop.

At the time, helium didn't admit that realizing his imagination mightiness travel with a daunting reality: He could find himself playing 2 afloat seasons successful the aforesaid calendar year.

And that's precisely what happened past year, erstwhile Tillman won a UFL title with the Stallions and past turned astir and embarked connected an full play with the Broncos, for whom helium played 13 games, including the playoffs. Tillman, who was signed to a Broncos declaration soon aft the decision of the Stallions' play successful June, would rapidly go a cardinal contributor connected the Denver defense. He recorded 5 sacks portion besides playing 61% of the team's peculiar teams snaps successful 2024.

"After the championship, I flew to Denver 2 days aboriginal and had a workout with the Broncos," said Tillman, whose erstwhile squad plays big to the Michigan Panthers connected Saturday (3 p.m., ABC/ESPN+). "They signed me, I went backmost home, and I came backmost a period aboriginal for grooming campy and ne'er stopped."

The expansive total: 2 grooming camps, 2 seasons' worthy of practices and 25 games. It's a tremendous load and 1 that tested Tillman's toughness. But helium said he'd bash it each again for the accidental to fulfill a lifelong goal.

"If you truly judge successful yourself, and if you truly privation something," Tillman said, "you person to spell get it."

Tillman is an illustration of the magnitude players volition spell for a changeable astatine their NFL dreams. If that means playing shot for practically a afloat year, absorbing each the requisite bumps and bruises on the way, past truthful beryllium it.

As the existent UFL play nears its crescendo, with 2 regular-season games remaining, determination are galore players successful the league hoping to travel a akin path. They, too, would emotion to look the situation of having to play back-to-back seasons if 1 is successful an NFL uniform. If they're consenting to taxable themselves to the carnal and intelligence toll, determination are immoderate vivid examples that it tin beryllium done.

Just don't expect it to beryllium easy.

Take it from Khalil Davis, an NFL escaped cause antiaircraft tackle who went this way aft his NFL opportunities dried up successful 2023. Davis, a 2020 sixth-round draught prime of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, joined the Stallions erstwhile a stint connected the Los Angeles Rams signifier squad successful precocious 2022 did not pb to a roster spot the pursuing year. So, alternatively than beryllium astir and hold for an NFL accidental to materialize, Davis opted to play outpouring football.

"I could person waited it out, but I don't similar leaving things up to chance," Davis said. "If determination was an accidental for maine to spell beryllium myself and conscionable to spell enactment a stamp connected something, that's what I wanted."

He performed good capable successful Birmingham to get backmost connected the radar of NFL teams. After the decision of the USFL play (the USFL and XFL merged past twelvemonth to go the UFL), Davis had respective workouts with NFL teams, to nary avail. Then, a fewer weeks later, successful aboriginal August, the Houston Texans called for a tryout.

"They said, 'We'll beryllium successful touch,' and I'm reasoning that's it," Davis said. "But they called maine backmost arsenic soon arsenic I landed backmost location to travel backmost and motion a contract. Then I played successful a preseason crippled 2 days later."

Davis had not had a substantive interruption since opening campy with the Stallions successful aboriginal March. After the outpouring season, helium had to guarantee that helium stayed acceptable for imaginable workouts, truthful determination was nary remainder to beryllium had. Navigating it each was tricky, to accidental the least. He was walking an intolerable enactment betwixt recovering from the play helium had conscionable played and ramping up for the NFL play helium hoped was approaching.

"That was the dilemma," Davis said.

This was the lawsuit with Tillman, arsenic well.

"It was hard trying to find a balance," Tillman said. "I took three, 4 days disconnected and past aft that I was close backmost astatine it, conscionable training. It was a batch of grooming and conscionable trying to bash a batch of betterment work, trying to get my assemblage backmost arsenic accelerated arsenic I could, knowing that I had different play coming up arsenic well."

Numerous players person landed connected NFL rosters from outpouring leagues similar the UFL, adjacent though galore lavation retired during last roster cuts oregon are relegated to signifier squads. Anthony Becht, manager of the UFL's St. Louis Battlehawks, offered an example, saying the franchise has seen 24 players marque it to an NFL campy since it began successful 2020.

But for players who win successful making progressive rosters, they are rewarded with the longest twelvemonth of their shot lives.

"I played successful 27 shot games that year," Davis said. "That's truly unheard of astatine the nonrecreational level."

Well, almost.

Dallas Cowboys instrumentality antheral KaVontae Turpin appeared successful 29 games successful 2022 erstwhile combining his play with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL with his regular-season and postseason games successful Dallas. But it's hard to reason it hasn't paid off; Turpin has go a Pro Bowl returner and has flourished with the Cowboys.

That doesn't mean opting for the UFL is ever a slam dunk for players connected the fringes. One subordinate cause told ESPN that helium cautions his clients that they'll beryllium taking connected important wounded hazard by playing successful the outpouring contempt making comparatively small money. The UFL's existent corporate bargaining statement calls for minimum salaries of $62,005. NFL signifier squads, helium pointed out, wage a minimum of $13,000 per week during the NFL season.

Minnesota Vikings antiaircraft lineman Jalen Redmond tin attest that injuries are an important variable. He signed with the Arlington Renegades successful the UFL past twelvemonth and sustained an ankle wounded aft 4 games. He recovered capable to instrumentality to signifier 2 weeks later, but helium was inactive slowed by the wounded adjacent aft signing with the Vikings pursuing the UFL season.

"I didn't truly get steadfast until I got [to Minnesota] for camp," helium said. That's when, helium said, "I started truly feeling myself again. So [I was] conscionable pushing and rehabbing that and inactive trying to support myself successful shape."

But, depending connected the player's situation, the wounded hazard mightiness beryllium worthy it.

Becht said that for players successful a concern similar Redmond's, "without taking that bet, they're not successful that [NFL] grooming camp. ... If they're not successful the [UFL], they're not going to get that accidental successful the grooming camp. So, that's the crushed wherefore they adjacent got the chance."

NFL teams typically person a subordinate of the scouting section assigned to show UFL prospects. And coaches and executives successful the league often tract calls from NFL unit who mightiness person involvement successful players. In the lawsuit of Redmond, Vikings elder vice president of subordinate unit Ryan Grigson approached antiaircraft coordinator Brian Flores during the summertime of 2024, asking him to instrumentality a look astatine the player's film.

But it tin inactive beryllium hard for players who execute good successful the UFL and erstwhile leagues to get a shot. Tillman's roadworthy was agelong and difficult. He had nary Division I offers retired of precocious schoolhouse and played for Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He went undrafted aft 4 seasons determination and needed 3 seasons successful the UFL earlier enjoying his NFL breakthrough.

Tillman said helium inactive mightiness not person gotten the accidental had helium not hired a caller cause successful 2024. Marty Magid, who has had past occurrence securing NFL spots for players from different leagues -- Detroit Lions kicker and former UFL star Jake Bates is 1 of his clients -- started moving the phones and calling successful favors. That helped unfastened immoderate doors.

"That's erstwhile things started to alteration for me," Tillman said.

But erstwhile the doorway to the NFL yet opens for a subordinate from different league, that's besides erstwhile the astir hard enactment begins. Real oregon imagined, there's ever a consciousness they're trying to flooded skepticism related to playing successful an alternate league.

"You're trying to beryllium yourself and you conscionable came from different league, truthful successful my book, you cannot not privation to practice," Redmond said.

Tillman and Davis said they had akin feelings. That's wherefore erstwhile Davis sustained a hep wounded successful the last preseason crippled a fewer weeks aft joining the Texans, helium pushed through. There was treatment astir him being offered an wounded colony if helium could not continue, a determination that would person resulted successful his merchandise from the team. But fixed however hard it was to onshore the roster spot, Davis wasn't inclined to springiness it up truthful easily.

"I looked unspeakable successful practice, but I deliberation they saw, 'This feline stuck it out,'" Davis said. "I deliberation they rewarded maine for that."

Davis didn't miss immoderate practices and went connected to play 422 antiaircraft snaps for Houston successful 2023 -- the astir of his career. He finished with 32 tackles and six tackles for loss.

Perhaps the biggest situation is the astir obvious: pushing done back-to-back seasons of shot successful a span of astir 9 months.

Among the keys to making it work, players said, was changeless attraction to enactment connected apical of their injuries. With truthful small betterment clip betwixt the seasons, aches and pains from the outpouring could linger into the fall.

"I was fundamentally successful the grooming country each day, each day," Davis said.

For Redmond, the toll started to accumulate arsenic his playing clip expanded.

"It started catching up to maine aboriginal connected successful the season," helium said. "I'm like, 'OK, present I've got to commencement acting similar a pro, getting massages going, doing extracurricular stuff.'"

It's conscionable 1 much facet of this uncommon feat fewer players tin accidental they've achieved. For the players interviewed, it each worked retired successful each case. Tillman is primed to instrumentality different measurement with the Broncos this season, Davis was picked up again successful 2024 aft returning the erstwhile season, and Redmond is backmost with the Vikings with hopes of earning much playing time.

They explicit nary regrets and judge the effort was each worthwhile. The alternative? To springiness up connected a dream.

"I conscionable did what I had to do," Davis said. "I conscionable couldn't instrumentality nary for an answer."

Kevin Seifert contributed to this report.