Atlas
08-26-2005, 12:51 AM
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Spragan, Dolphins a fit
Linebacker clears many hurdles, finds a home with Miami
By Steve Megargee, Scripps Howard News Service
August 26, 2005
DAVIE, Fla. - The newest starting linebacker for the Miami Dolphins earned his job the hard way.
Donnie Spragan knows no other way.
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The undrafted free agent injured his left knee in his first preseason and spent the next year out of football.
He was released by three different NFL teams before ever playing a regular-season game.
"For a long time, if I called my mom, she'd think I'm at an airport because I just got cut," Spragan said.
His mother doesn't have to worry when the phone rings anymore.
Spragan, 29, plays a major role for a star-studded linebacking corps that includes future Hall of Famer Junior Seau and five-time Pro Bowl selection Zach Thomas.
Spragan has bounced around this league enough to cherish this moment.
"I didn't know the silver-spoon method," Spragan said. "That's not how I came up with football. I was a guy who scratched and clawed and did the dirty work."
Adversity found Spragan as far back as his freshman year in college.
Spragan had just finished his first season at the University of Pacific when he was blindsided by the news that his school planned to eliminate football.
"That was totally unexpected," Spragan said. "They were talking about firing the coach, but that was the only rumor going around. We went home for Christmas break when my roommate called me and said, 'Man, they just dropped the program.' "
Spragan didn't have to wait long to find a new school. He transferred to Stanford and eventually earned all-Pacific 10 Conference honors.
But he went undrafted in 1999 and had to sign with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent. The worst news was yet to come.
Spragan had performed well in training camp and was playing in the Saints' final preseason game when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
"Once I got to the sideline, I knew," Spragan said of the season-ending injury. "You could look in the doctor's face and could kind of tell it was serious."
Spragan didn't play at all after the Saints released him the following year. He instead went back to school and earned a degree in civil engineering.
Spragan began his comeback by playing for Amsterdam of NFL Europe in the spring of 2001.
The Green Bay Packers released him the following preseason, then the Cleveland Browns dropped him from their practice squad that fall.
"I tell some of the young guys now that a lot of times it isn't about how much talent you have," Spragan said. "It's how you fit in a certain system with a certain coaching staff and the scheme.
"I kept believing in myself. Sometimes I might have played extremely well, but things didn't work out and the pieces didn't fit together."
Spragan found the right fit in Denver. The Broncos signed him to their practice squad late in the 2001 season, and he finally made an NFL active roster the following year.
He entered the starting lineup in 2003 after Broncos linebackers Ian Gold and John Mobley suffered season-ending injuries. He has averaged 70 tackles a year as a starter for Denver the past two seasons.
The Dolphins rewarded him with a two-year contract reportedly worth $2 million.
Dolphins coach Nick Saban believes Spragan's knowledge of the game and his 6-foot-3 frame makes him ideal for the Sam (strong-side) linebacker position.
Most of the Dolphins' other linebackers are smaller and quicker players who fit the Mike (middle) and Will (weak-side) linebacker spots. The Sam linebacker should be bigger to handle his responsibilities against tight ends.
"We wouldn't be able to do what we're doing now had he not come in here and been able to assume that role," Saban said.
Spragan already has impressed teammates with his game smarts and book smarts, though his status as the rare NFL player with a civil engineering degree from Stanford has resulted in some good-natured kidding.
"He's done a great job," Thomas said. "He's from Stanford - and he graduated. So he's the brains of our defense."
And he's smart enough to know he has received the opportunity of a lifetime.
After traveling the world in search of one, Spragan finally might have found a home.
Spragan, Dolphins a fit
Linebacker clears many hurdles, finds a home with Miami
By Steve Megargee, Scripps Howard News Service
August 26, 2005
DAVIE, Fla. - The newest starting linebacker for the Miami Dolphins earned his job the hard way.
Donnie Spragan knows no other way.
Advertisement
The undrafted free agent injured his left knee in his first preseason and spent the next year out of football.
He was released by three different NFL teams before ever playing a regular-season game.
"For a long time, if I called my mom, she'd think I'm at an airport because I just got cut," Spragan said.
His mother doesn't have to worry when the phone rings anymore.
Spragan, 29, plays a major role for a star-studded linebacking corps that includes future Hall of Famer Junior Seau and five-time Pro Bowl selection Zach Thomas.
Spragan has bounced around this league enough to cherish this moment.
"I didn't know the silver-spoon method," Spragan said. "That's not how I came up with football. I was a guy who scratched and clawed and did the dirty work."
Adversity found Spragan as far back as his freshman year in college.
Spragan had just finished his first season at the University of Pacific when he was blindsided by the news that his school planned to eliminate football.
"That was totally unexpected," Spragan said. "They were talking about firing the coach, but that was the only rumor going around. We went home for Christmas break when my roommate called me and said, 'Man, they just dropped the program.' "
Spragan didn't have to wait long to find a new school. He transferred to Stanford and eventually earned all-Pacific 10 Conference honors.
But he went undrafted in 1999 and had to sign with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent. The worst news was yet to come.
Spragan had performed well in training camp and was playing in the Saints' final preseason game when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
"Once I got to the sideline, I knew," Spragan said of the season-ending injury. "You could look in the doctor's face and could kind of tell it was serious."
Spragan didn't play at all after the Saints released him the following year. He instead went back to school and earned a degree in civil engineering.
Spragan began his comeback by playing for Amsterdam of NFL Europe in the spring of 2001.
The Green Bay Packers released him the following preseason, then the Cleveland Browns dropped him from their practice squad that fall.
"I tell some of the young guys now that a lot of times it isn't about how much talent you have," Spragan said. "It's how you fit in a certain system with a certain coaching staff and the scheme.
"I kept believing in myself. Sometimes I might have played extremely well, but things didn't work out and the pieces didn't fit together."
Spragan found the right fit in Denver. The Broncos signed him to their practice squad late in the 2001 season, and he finally made an NFL active roster the following year.
He entered the starting lineup in 2003 after Broncos linebackers Ian Gold and John Mobley suffered season-ending injuries. He has averaged 70 tackles a year as a starter for Denver the past two seasons.
The Dolphins rewarded him with a two-year contract reportedly worth $2 million.
Dolphins coach Nick Saban believes Spragan's knowledge of the game and his 6-foot-3 frame makes him ideal for the Sam (strong-side) linebacker position.
Most of the Dolphins' other linebackers are smaller and quicker players who fit the Mike (middle) and Will (weak-side) linebacker spots. The Sam linebacker should be bigger to handle his responsibilities against tight ends.
"We wouldn't be able to do what we're doing now had he not come in here and been able to assume that role," Saban said.
Spragan already has impressed teammates with his game smarts and book smarts, though his status as the rare NFL player with a civil engineering degree from Stanford has resulted in some good-natured kidding.
"He's done a great job," Thomas said. "He's from Stanford - and he graduated. So he's the brains of our defense."
And he's smart enough to know he has received the opportunity of a lifetime.
After traveling the world in search of one, Spragan finally might have found a home.