Some things just can't be controlled. And in the case of former Jets center Dalton Freeman, it affected his potential livelihood.
An All-ACC center as a junior at Clemson, he contemplated declaring for the NFL Draft, but chose to stay in school and return for his senior season.
"Right after I came back, I became very ill with ulcerative colitis and I lost about 30 or 40 pounds. And it took me several months to recover from that," Freeman said. "So when a lot of scouts were coming in the spring and the summer, they saw me as a puny 250-pound offensive lineman that was never going to translate in the NFL. And that was a very difficult obstacle for me to overcome."
But he did and was All-ACC for a second time, as well as a 2012 AP second-team All-American. Yet when the NFL held its 2013 Draft, his name wasn't called and he made the decision to sign with the Jets as a free agent.
"It was really because of (head coach) Rex Ryan and (offensive line coach) Mike Devlin and the camaraderie I had with some of the guys that were drafted that year: Brian Winters, Oday Aboushi, Tommy Bohanon," Freeman said. "I'd known several of those guys through training for the Combine and going and playing in the Senior Bowl. I really just believed in Rex and what he was doing.
"Rex was very open and honest with me, and he could not believe that I had not been drafted. And I could not either."
Earlier that spring at Clemson's Pro Day, Ryan looked at Freeman's stats and called him a 30/30/30 guy because he had scored over 30 on the Wonderlic Test, bench pressed 225 pounds 36 times, and had a vertical jump over 30 inches.
"And he's like, 'I don't care who you are or what position you are, if you're a 30/30/30 guy, you can start in the NFL. I really believe you're going to come in and you're going to make an impact. You're going to learn from Nick,'" Freeman said.
"Obviously, the Pro Bowler Nick Mangold was going to be a very tough obstacle to overcome, but I thought it was a great opportunity for me to learn from him and potentially be the sixth man on the line. And that was what was planned, and things were progressing really well until I got hurt. I had a bad high ankle sprain, and that sidelined me and forced me to be on the practice squad."
Spending his rookie season on the practice squad allowed Freeman to become acquainted with the mental side of life in the NFL.
"Being a center, I was already pretty in tune with the X's and O's and the schematics, but I had no idea what went into it on a day-to-day basis," he said. "Because if you think about a freshman in college, they're required to go to school full time. So let's say that's 12 to 15 hours. But you're only allowed to have about 20 hours' worth of football time, and then you've got to study and do things to kind of get you where you need to be, both academically and athletically.
"But in the NFL, it is all mental preparation. Of course, you go and practice, but everybody is good enough at that level. There is a very small difference in a superstar Hall of Famer, and guys that are just happy to be there and starting on Sunday. Everybody is good. Guys that are truly special are the guys that have it between their ears and can comprehend everything and truly become students of the game."
During the 2013 campaign, Freeman was able to learn lessons in the offensive line's meeting room and on the practice field, doing everything but suiting up on game day. But that changed at the end of the following season's training camp when he received a call from Ryan and was told that he made the Jets' 2014 active roster.
"It was a dream come true," Freeman said. "I had just left the facility and was in my truck, and I remember pulling over and just crying tears of joy and thinking that I'd worked my entire life to get to that point. I was so happy to have achieved that lifelong goal. I immediately called my wife and called my family.
"I had not received a call, which no news is good news on cut day. So I was praying I didn't get a call. And then when I did, I was a little bit nervous answering the phone. But I had a pretty good feeling, and it was just a call congratulating me and letting me know that I had made the 53. It's something I'll never forget."
Playing in every game on special teams, Freeman stepped in for an injured Mangold at center during the fourth quarter of the Week 15 game at Tennessee. The following week against New England, he stepped in for Mangold again in the middle of the second quarter.
Freeman then made his first NFL career start at center in the season-finale in Miami, and was part of the offensive line that helped register 494 total yards, including 104 on the ground. He also helped protect quarterback Geno Smith, who threw for 358 yards and three touchdowns in the 37-24 victory.
Mangold may have been on the sideline because of an ankle injury, but he was still a part of New York's win by offering advice to an appreciative Freeman before and throughout the game.
"Nick was the smartest football player I have ever been around," he said. "My dad was my high school coach and athletic director and played college football at Wake Forest. His dad was a coach and played football at North Carolina. Football is all I've ever known. But there was something special about Nick and the way he could digest the film and just visualize things before they happen. He was a tremendous person and a true student of the game."
After spending time with Houston and Buffalo over the next two seasons, Freeman left the game and returned to his past and a company he was very familiar with – HMR Veterans Services, where he is the Regional V.P. of Operations for South Carolina.
"I actually got paired with a gentleman while I was at Clemson, and that's how I came to know HMR Veteran Services," Freeman said. "I hung around them for about a year and then officially began interning in 2011. And honestly, I've never been terminated. Even when I was in the NFL, I came back and helped out in the offseason.
"I like to say that football led me down a different path. I did not have a chance to serve our country because of football, and this is my opportunity now to give back and to serve those who served us.
"The Vice President of Operations is involved in everything. I'm not a clinical expert, but I dive deep into the clinical side of things to ensure that the veterans are being cared for the way they should, ensuring that we have adequate staffing, whether that's in dietary, laundry, housekeeping, clinical, maintenance, activities, HR. I deal a lot with HR issues and personnel issues, ensuring that we're compliant with both the federal VA and CMS regulations."
Making his home in Anderson, South Carolina, with his wife, Sarah, and their children: Reese and Luke; what does Freeman enjoy most about his job?
"Giving back to the veterans," he said. "I think long-term care in general is a calling and something that I'm proud to be a part of. But when you pair that with our mission of serving those who served us and being able to give back to the veterans and the heroes of this country, that's what it's all about for me."
