Dreams die today

After a month of hard work in the summer heat, more than 300 football players will find they are not wanted and many will not play the game again. Such is the reality of the NFL’s roster cutdown on Tuesday.

NFL teams bring 90 players to training camp, but can only keep 53 (plus 10 on the practice squad). So rosters must be trimmed to 75 by 4 p.m. and then to 53 on Saturday following the final preseason game.

Some of the teams had already begun the pruning and there weren’t any ‘name’ players in the lot. A few of those who get cut in the first wave will get calls from other teams or may wind up on a practice squad, but many were undrafted free agents with a limited shot at succeeding. Some will wind up spending the season on injured reserve, at least allowing them a chance to learn in the classroom, if not on the field.

Yet there are always success stories. In Dallas, undrafted defensive back Tyler Patmon seemingly played his way onto the roster (in part because the Cowboys defense is so awful). He had a hand in forcing three turnovers in Dallas’ last preseason game, including an interception return for a touchdown. While he’s no lock to make the team, he’s one of the feel-good tales as he tries to earn a place on a storied team in his home state.

Wish him luck. For some, the dream dies today. For others, there’s only a reprieve until Saturday. And for a few, a long-imagined career soon makes its tentative beginning.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman