Football: Stingers' Greenwood eyes NFL, uses Shrine Game snub as motivation

"My goal is to try to make it to an NFL camp.

“I don’t want to leave any stones unturned. I’m not saying I’m going to play in the NFL, but I want to give it a shot."
-- Cory Greenwood
Nice article outlining what the Concordia linebacker is doing to better his chances at getting a look from the NFL.

The proliferation of pass-happy offences in the NFL might help a player such as Greenwood. There seems to be a trend toward having linebackers who have adequate size (Greenwood was listed at 6-foot-2, 224 lbs. at Concordia) and can cover laterally and get back very quickly in pass coverage (watching the NFL, it seems like linebackers defend passes much farther downfield than they did 10, 15 years ago). Coming from a Canadian football background, with the wide fields and five- and six-receiver packages, Greenwood might have a familiarity factor on his side.

That being said, it will be exceedingly difficult. Off-hand, it's hard to remember the last linebacker from a CIS program who was seriously considered by the NFL. Commenter Ken Kirkwood noted the long-time CFL linebacker Michael O'Shea (Guelph) once made it to the final cuts with the Detroit Lions in the 1990s.

Typically, offensive and defensive linemen and the occasional running back and receiver have made the leap from CIS to the NFL.

This part of Mike Koreen's article also jumped out:
"(Greenwood) has a bit of a chip on his shoulder after not being selected for the East-West Shrine Game, a college all-star event this month in Orlando.

"The game invited two CIS players — one for the East and one for the West. Windsor Lancers centre Matt Morencie got the East nod.

"Greenwood said he’ll use that bad news as motivation.

" 'For sure, that’s the only way you can take it ... It gives me that much more to prove.' "
Football:
Concordia linebacker shoots for NFL; Kingston native rated second for the CFL draft (Mike Koreen, Kingston Whig-Standard)
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2 comments:

  1. Ken Kirkwood1/03/2010 5:30 pm

    The last linebacker I can remember getting a long look in the NFL was Mike O'Shea (Guelph). He was a couple of years into his CFL career when he stuck it out in the Detroit Lions camp until the final cuts.

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  2. Thanks Ken! I figured you would know.

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