Undrafted but Undeterred (Rawls article)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-what-i-learned-from-my-first-year-in-the-nfl

It's a good read. He comes across as a hardworking guy (duh).

One of the things Coach Carroll told me, and one of the reasons I chose Seattle, was the way they view undrafted free agents. A lot of guys have made the team there as UDFAs. The Seahawks give people a chance to really show what they can do. To prove themselves on the field. That's all I wanted, and I knew it's all that I would need.

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I think that sets the Seahawks apart in the league and many don't realize how this affects the number of draft picks that Seattle moves on from.

Thanks for sharing.

It's neat when athletes do introspective articles on themselves. It gives us perspective that we usually don't get from sound-bite driven interviews.

For me the real story about Thomas Rawls is that it generally pays for GMs to take (carefully considered) character risks. Thomas Rawls is not a UDFA by talent, even some national draft pundits such as Mike Mayock had Rawls down as a 4th rounder prior to the 2015 draft.

Thomas Rawls was a purse snatcher and Frank Clark had a alleged DV incident. John Schneider took some arrows from the self-righteous types in the media, but it was absolutely the right move taking a chance on both of those guys. And he didn't just take a chance on them because he liked their talent. He did his homework first and felt they were better as men than the initial snap-judgement led other GMs to believe.

That was a really good article btw. Gave off a bit of a Tyrann Mathieu vibe.

Now I am totally confused. I feel like I just read something really good and worthwhile. Then I realize I just read Bleacher Report........

Totally confused.......

Thanks for the link!

This article was awesome, thanks for sharing.

It's really great to be able to hear a player's perspective and understand where their heads are at. Rawls is smart to follow Baldwin's lead as he's a great example of what can happen if you just work your ass off and not worry about the contract and everything else. That will come if you put the work in.

I'm really hoping Rawls can stay healthy this year so the league gets a chance to see his talent. If he wasn't injured last year he likely would have had the most yards by any rookie back (over the lauded Gurley).

This is one of the many things that makes this team and this Front Office so special. Did some lackey called Rawls? No. Did some Assistant General Manager, or Assistant Coach call Rawls? No. Was it Rawl's area scout who would have seen him play? No.

It was:

"I got calls from most of the NFL. Many were teams I had visited—teams I thought were highly interested in drafting me. But I figured if they wanted me, they should have drafted me.

I was weighing my options when Coach Carroll called. We talked, and then I called him back because I wanted to clear up some things and make sure I was making the right decision.
"

Man I love this kid. He is incredibly smart. I don't care if he got in trouble, many a young man gets in trouble (me for example), but it doesn't define who they are, if they don't let it.

While reading this story, there were so many things I saw that were quotable, but read it for yourself, and you'll see just how intelligent this young man is.

There is one thing I do want to quote though, it's from his dad:


"my father always told me, "Son, don't ever chase the money. The money will be there. Opportunity won't.""

War room after the draft everyone is calling. Our position coaches are calling as well and then they put Pete on the phone then back to the right position coach.

So while we are special it is not unusual. It was all in the article posted awhile ago that kind of outlined what went on after the draft is over.

Personally I was more annoyed about how he had time to talk to all these other teams BEFORE Seahawks got him on the phone

Well....if I really have to make a decision....I'd keep Jennifer Lopez.

LymonHawk":a2mh8eyj said:

Well....if I really have to make a decision....I'd keep Jennifer Lopez.

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What?

On the otherhand Rawls seems to have his priorities right and his head screwed on correctly.

Good article and he has a good attitude and mindset. However, my only nitpick is that he ended the article by saying he doesn't know why he wasn't drafted. I think he knows exactly why and isn't comfortable talking about it. It would've been difficult, but an opportune time to publicly own up to his mistake.

mikeak":2nouphlz said:

War room after the draft everyone is calling. Our position coaches are calling as well and then they put Pete on the phone then back to the right position coach.

So while we are special it is not unusual. It was all in the article posted awhile ago that kind of outlined what went on after the draft is over.

Personally I was more annoyed about how he had time to talk to all these other teams BEFORE Seahawks got him on the phone

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Exactly. Though to Pete's credit, he has that politician's knack for making everyone he speaks to feel special.

Erebus":2jha9cfv said:

Good article and he has a good attitude and mindset. However, my only nitpick is that he ended the article by saying he doesn't know why he wasn't drafted. I think he knows exactly why and isn't comfortable talking about it. It would've been difficult, but an opportune time to publicly own up to his mistake.

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In fairness to Rawls, there are tons of guys from bigger schools with better pedigrees that get drafted every year despite having major character red flags. Jameis Winston's alleged infractions were far more concerning, and he went #1 overall. Rawls came from a level of football where you are lucky just to get a UDFA call after the draft. The character concerns and maybe an assumption by GMs that he'd go undrafted all added up.

mikeak":2ac9e3ix said:

Now I am totally confused. I feel like I just read something really good and worthwhile. Then I realize I just read Bleacher Report........

Totally confused.......

Thanks for the link!

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Bleacher Report is much better than it used to be.