There are probably 400-500 undrafted rookie free agents currently in an NFL camp that would draw inspiration from the John Wolford story.
All they need is belief _ a belief in themselves when no one would give them an opportunity, along with a relentless desire to keep working their football craft until a door to employment finally cracks open.
Wolford, the former Bishop Kenny and Wake Forest quarterback, refused to completely give up on his NFL dream. He was smart enough to have a backup plan, but he wasn't ready to leave football until the game kicked him out for good.
Yes, he could have made a substantial income as a financial analyst on Wall Street after the New York Jets cut him just 10 days into his first NFL camp in 2018. But Wolford had too much fun playing football all those years, so he kept waiting for another chance.
Somehow, things have worked out quite nicely for Johnny Football. After leaving a bank investment company to pursue a football life line with the Arizona Hotshots in the defunct Alliance of American Football (AAF), where he started eight games before the league folded, Wolford now has a firm grip on the backup quarterback job with the Los Angeles Rams.
"I'm getting the first crack at it and I'm thankful they're giving me that opportunity," Wolford said Monday in a phone interview. "I'm just trying to prove them right."
Unless things change drastically in the 19 days before the NFL season opener, the 24-year-old financial whiz is going to be the Rams' No. 2 quarterback behind Jared Goff. His only other competition are undrafted rookies Bryce Perkins (Virginia) and Josh Love (San Jose State), neither of whom are getting nearly as many training camp snaps.
