Three Aggies to get NFL tryouts, possible contracts
God must really like James Brindley, Brennan McFadden and Chris Ulinski. That, or Hollywood is just intent on capitalizing on their amazing story.
How else to explain their paths to football success at Utah State? As childhood friends growing up in Grass Valley, Calif., they dreamed of making it big on the gridiron during their days at Nevada Union High School. The three briefly parted ways after that, with Brindley and McFadden finding their way to USU’s football team, while Ulinski went on to play rugby at the University of Nevada. But when circumstance intervened in Logan, Ulinski received the most unlikely of calls, and following his freshman year in Reno, he ended up transferring to USU. Walking his way onto the football team with a booming leg and easy-going sense of humor, the former “frat boy” was reunited with his high school teammates, who quickly resumed their friendship. A dramatic tale by any testament, and one certainly befitting of a Hollywood script, which makes last weekend’s revelations all the more incredible. The three friends – known by some as the “Grass Valley Trio” – have all been offered the opportunity to attend NFL minicamps starting this weekend.
“It’s kinda crazy. I never thought any of us would make it this far,” said former Aggie safety James Brindley, who signed a free-agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday. “Now we all have the opportunity. I’m just thankful for how hard those guys have worked for us to get all the opportunities to make our dreams come true.”
Brindley was the first of the three friends to get the call. Considered USU’s best hope to be drafted by an NFL team, Brindley anxiously waited for his name to be called on Saturday morning at the home of McFadden. Brindley, who averaged 7.8 per game in 2009, had been drawing interest from several NFL teams and received a phone call from an unknown caller as the draft neared its conclusion.
“We were watching the draft, and all of a sudden (the Seahawks) call me at about the sixth or seventh round,” he recalled. “Basically they were saying that they had two picks in the seventh round, and that I was one of the guys that they wanted to draft, but that it could go in a different direction.”
The Seahawks did end up going in another direction, at least for the time being. The team chose Arizona State DE Dexter Davis and former Kent State H-back Jameson Konz in the draft’s final round, but didn’t forget about the ball-hawking Aggie defender. With the draft barely in the books, Brindley’s agent phoned the two-time academic all-WAC selection, informing him that he had been acquired by the franchise via priority free agency. For Brindley, who had been speaking with representatives of the Seahawks for the past few weeks – including new head coach Pete Carroll – the situation couldn’t have worked out any better.
“They’ve been the team that’s been most interested the last few months,” Brindley said. “I talked to their (general manager John Schneider) and talked to Pete Carroll the past two weeks, so it’s definitely the place I felt the most comfortable going.”
The exact terms of Brindley’s contract are not known, but he informed The Statesman that it included a signing bonus that would keep him in Seattle for three years, provided he makes the team. Of course, making an NFL team is easier said than done, especially considering that NFL teams are only allowed to carry a roster with 53 players. That Seattle drafted two top-flight, BCS conference safeties in Texas’ Earl Thomas and Virginia Tech’s Kam Chancellor makes Brindley’s forthcoming battle to make the team all the more difficult, although he’s confident that he’ll be able to impress the Seattle coaches enough to make it through final cuts and into September.
“I just think it’s the opportunity I have,” Brindley said. “From what they’ve said – just between them and my agent and myself – if I can go up there and play like I do on film there is no reason I shouldn’t be able to make the 53-man roster. It’ll probably be just special teams and the ‘nickel’ position.”
“They said I’ll be a perfect fit up there, so I’m just trying to go up there and compete,” he added.
Brindley wasn’t the only former Aggie to receive a phone call on Saturday. Fellow Grass Valley native and former USU kicker Chris Ulinski also received a call from an NFL team. While he would have loved to join his longtime friend in Seattle, the former USU kicker was just as happy when the Cleveland Browns offered him a chance to try out during this weekend’s minicamp. Ulinski, who was an impressive 5-8 on field goals beyond 40 yards in 2009, kicked for NFL scouts during last month’s “pro day” at USU and has shown the ability to contribute in all three areas of the kicking game.
Ulinski and Brindley were all smiles on Saturday afternoon, but the realization soon dawned on them that the next step in the journey to the NFL might be missing a critical component – the presence of teammate Brennan McFadden. Their longtime friend had been influential in helping to bring Ulinski to USU, and neither could imagine taking their game to the next level without at least seeing McFadden have the same chance. Fortunately for the three friends, it wasn’t long until the former second team all-WAC center got the same life-changing call.
“It was kind of a long day for me with a lot of doubts, but then I talked to my agent (on Saturday night) and he said there were about four or five teams which had called about me,” said McFadden, who ran a blistering 5-second 40-yard dash during USU’s pro day last month. “He called me (Sunday morning) and said that the Browns would be calling me soon, and about a half an hour after that, I got a call from a scout from Cleveland. He asked me if I wanted to come and give it a shot and I said, ‘Absolutely.'”
Like Ulinski, McFadden was not offered a contract by the Browns and will have to show their coaching staff enough at this weekend’s tryout to receive consideration for being signed as a free agent and being invited back to training camp during the summer. He realizes the odds are stacked up against him, but he isn’t letting those odds put a damper on his positive attitude.
“It’ll be pretty crazy, but I’m just ready to get out there and show what I can do,” he said. “Hopefully my best efforts will impress the coaches and they’ll want to keep me for the entire training camp and go from there.”
All three players will fly out to their respective NFL cities on Thursday, with plans to engage in rookie camp activities with their teams on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning before returning to Logan next week. Both Brindley and McFadden acknowledge being nervous about the chance to play with many former big-name college stars, but said they look forward to the opportunity of showing that USU athletes can compete with the very best.
“I’m obviously a little nervous, but when you get out on the field it’s still football, and that’s what I’ve been doing for the past 15 years,” Brindley said. “I’m looking forward to it and the opportunity to go out there and showing what I can do.”
McFadden, in particular, said he’s looking forward to snapping the ball to former Texas Longhorn quarterback Colt McCoy, who was taken in the third round of the draft by the Seahawks.
“It should be cool,” McFadden said. “You always see (Colt) on TV and stuff. Hopefully all the nerves will go away. It’s just going to be like any day or any other practice, but it should definitely be cool. I’m sure I’ll see a lot of guys that are definitely in my same boat or guys who were on another (college team) who are now my teammates, so it’s cool.”
And what about the chance to play with high school and college teammate Ulinski? Or the chance to even go against Brindley in future NFL games? McFadden is still in awe of the fact that the three friends have made it this far and that fate has given them the opportunity to live their dreams on the brightest of stages.
“It’s crazy. Someone could write a book and make money on this story,” McFadden said. “With what me and (Chris) have been through – along with James – going to the same high school, growing up together and playing football together … and now we all get picked up? And for me and Chris (Ulinski) to be going to the same team is just a little bit of luck? A little bit of fate?”
He continued, saying, “Who knows, but if someone would have told me we would have gone to the same team I would have said, ‘Yeah right.’ But here we are again, going to the same team. It’s just pretty amazing. It’ll be nice having someone there I know, and I’m just looking forward to it.”
It’s been a wild ride for the Grass Valley trio, and although the odds of all three making it onto NFL rosters remain slim, the three have proven time and again that stranger things have happened. With a strong work ethic, a little bit of luck, and perhaps some help from the Big Man upstairs, they’re excited to play out their Hollywood script and see just how far their childhood dreams can take them.
“I’m excited,” McFadden said. “I’m living my dream right now, and hopefully I can ride this dream. I’m just going to go with it for as long as I can and enjoy every moment and have no regrets.”
– adam.nettina@aggiemail.usu.edu
