He didn’t receive an invite to the NFL Combine in February, and he didn’t hear his name called during the NFL Draft in April.
Don’t let yourself believe that undrafted free agent JoJo McIntosh is going to be deterred, though. The newest safety for the Washington Redskins is setting out to make a name for himself, all he needed was the opportunity.
“[I was] there in the draft just waiting for my name to be called,” McIntosh said, via Redskins.com. “I had a few teams call me right after the draft and during the draft, so luckily I was able to come here. Blessed with the opportunity.”
McIntosh had a successful college career at the University of Washington, and now he will look to gain experience in the Redskins secondary, learning from some highly touted names like Landon Collins, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and Josh Norman.
“It feels good because when I get in and I’m doing whatever I need to do, you know they’ll pull me to the side and say ‘that’s a good play but you can do this much faster if you see this and see this,’” McIntosh said.
As a UDFA, there is undoubtedly a long road ahead of him in order to obtain success at the NFL level. Everyone has heard of the success stories that come from players going undrafted and finding a roadmap to success in the league, but for every success story, there are five failures mixed in. If McIntosh hopes to have the NFL career he envisions, it won’t be without hard work and sacrifice.
“I’m one of the young guys, and they’ve been here for a while and they know the playbook, so I just have to make sure I get in the film room and dive into my playbook to make sure I’m competing on the same level as those guys,” McIntosh said. “Everyone in college doesn’t make it, but everyone here is definitely at the top – they’re the professionals.”
