Roughly 400 players were signed as free agents in the days immediately after last weekend's NFL Draft.
Mike Byrne helped Delaware reach the Football Championship Subdivision finals last season.
These were the guys who, at least in theory, weren't quite good enough to get drafted. Most of them, of course, will be getting on with their lives in another field of endeavor soon enough.
Manheim Central's Mike Byrne, an offensive lineman from the University of Delaware, is among that horde, having been signed by the Miami Dolphins Sunday.
There are reasons to believe Byrne could rise above the crowd and build an NFL career. Here are a few of them:
1. He's versatile. Byrne played center at Central, anchoring the Barons' 2003 state championship team. At Delaware he worked, at times, at center, guard, tackle and even tight end. He settled at tackle as a college junior and senior.
The Dolphins have told Byrne they see him as a center.
"One of the things I tried to sell to the NFL people was with today's roster situations, it's great to have an eighth or ninth lineman who can play all three positions," Delaware coach K.C. Keeler said Wednesday.
Tackle, and especially left tackle, has become a glamour position in the NFL. But center is an underrated, cerebral spot. In high school football, and certainly at Manheim Central, center is arguably, behind quarterback, the most important position on the field.
"Sometimes people overlook it, but we like to put our best lineman at center," Manheim Central coach Mike Williams said.
At 6-foot-5 and around 300 pounds, he's actually a little small for an NFL tackle, but perhaps a little big, or at least tall, for a center.
"I guess I'm more comfortable now at tackle, just because that's what I've been doing the last couple years," Byrne said.
"At tackle you're going against D-ends, who tend to be a little quicker. Also, you have some space between you and them, maybe a foot or so to work with. At center, they're right on top of you. Obviously, I'll play wherever."
2. He's exceptionally intelligent. Byrne was an honor student in high school, had a 3.5 grade-point average in college and made some academic All-America teams.
"He's unique," Keeler said. "You can throw an awful lot at him and he'll retain it."
"He made all the blocking calls for us and pretty much knew everybody else's assignment," Williams said. "In the NFL, centers might not be the best athletes on the field, but they have to be some of the smartest."
3. He's young. Yes, even for a rookie. Byrne turned 17 during his senior year of high school, and is only 21 now. He weighed around 260 then, around 300 now.
"This is a kid who's 21 years of age going into the NFL," Williams said. "People reach their maximum strength usually in their mid-20s. If he can stick around long enough to fully develop … ."
4. He's a solid citizen. Byrne committed to Delaware relatively early, and honored the commitment when Division I-A suitors came around.
At Delaware, he managed his time well enough to earn two bachelor's degrees, in criminal justice and psychology.
Don't foresee a Pacman Jones career path for this kid.
5. He's heading in to a favorable team situation. The Dolphins were 1-15 last year. They have a new coach (Tony Sparano), a new general manager (Jeff Ireland), a new offensive line coach (Mike Maser) and a new director of football operations you may have heard of (Bill Parcells).
Miami finished 28th in the NFL in offense last year
The Dolphins took Michigan tackle Jake Long with the first overall pick in the draft, and drafted guards Shawn Murphy of Utah State in the fifth round and Donald Thomas of UConn in the sixth.
They also signed three free agent tackles, but only one of them, Bryne, is moving to center.
"[Coach] Maser said he can't wait to get me down there," Byrne said Wednesday.
He flew to Miami Saturday. The Dolphins, like all NFL teams, held minicamp sessions Friday and Saturday and will work out again today.
Training camp proper begins in July, but there are more workouts beginning May 16. Problem: Delaware's graduation isn't until the 31st, and there's an NFL rule that players can't work out (minicamp doesn't count) until their college class graduates.
Byrne has long since completed all the requirements for graduation except the cap-and-gown thing.
"I'm gonna see if there isn't a way around that, maybe some way I can do the graduation early," Byrne said. "It's a little frustrating."
It's hard to find any other downside to this. It's at the very least an adventure and at most a life-defining, envied career.
Even the fact that it's Miami is very cool.
"Actually that was my team when I was little," he said. "I have no idea why. I just picked them randomly."
That's kind of how it works.
Mike Gross is a Sunday News sports writer. E-mail him at mgross@lnpnews.com.
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