Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Syracuse watched a whole bunch of its recent graduates sign NFL contracts in the last week. One not among them was Rob Long.
Long, the 2010 Second Team All-Big East punter, left the school as one of, if not the, greatest punter in school history. He was on his way to becoming First Team All-Big East and receiving even more accolades until he found out that he had a tumor in his brain that required surgery. Three weeks following the surgery he joined his fellow Orange in NYC at the Pinstripe Bowl, a game he could not play in. After that, with one miracle completed and his tumor gone, Long set out to make his dream of playing in the NFL come true.
Only problem was, no NFL teams seemed interested. He went undrafted and did not receive a free agency contract in last week's feeding frenzy. Long even went as far as to create a new video of himself punting as if he were a high school junior trying to catch the eye of college scouts.
According to his agent, every team was contact about Long's employment and not one of them showed any interest. Except for one, the Cleveland Browns, who invited Long to a workout Tuesday.
You don't have to dig too deep to find an interesting angle in this story. It was the Browns who drafted Syracuse RB Ernie Davis all the way back in 1962 before he succumbed to leukemia. Now the Browns once again call on a special Syracuse player, only this time he's already beaten the cancer. The hard parts' over. All he has to do now is make an NFL squad.
Easy peasy.
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