With the NFL preseason kicking off last night, there may not be a better story all year than that of Cleveland Browns wide-out Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi.
Just this past spring, Sheehy-Guiseppi was sleeping outside and eating at cookouts hosted by strangers because the former junior college kick returner couldnât afford food or a hotel room to sleep in.
Last night during the Brownsâ preseason opener the Cleveland walk-on Sheehy-Guiseppi ran back a punt 86-yards to the house and was mobbed by his teammates afterwards.
đ How he got there
Damon Sheehy-Guiseppiâs road to the NFL is one made for Hollywood.
As mentioned, Sheehy-Guiseppi was a former junior college All-American kick returner at Phoenix College. However that alone wasnât enough for him to get an offer from a Division I program and he eventually found himself out of organized football for the next two years.
Those setbacks though didnât stop him from still trying to land on a professional football team, no matter what the League. But like his attempts to make that transition to Division I in college, tryouts with NFL teams, Arena Football teams and the CFL werenât working out. Likewise that CFL tryout in Las Vegas required Sheehy-Guiseppi to payout $100 in order to participate.
From there, Sheehy-Guiseppi found himself sleeping outside and essentially getting food wherever he could.
So where did things turn around for him?
A friend in a flag-football league told him about an NFL workout in Miami so Sheehy-Guiseppi showed up without having an invite. In fact the only way he was admitted to the workout was after he was able to convince someone there that he knew Brownsâ VP of player personnel Alonzo Highsmith, who was there as a scout. Of course he didnât know Highsmith but was convincing enough to be let into the work.
And while at the workout, Sheehy-Guiseppi made the very most of his time clocking a 4.38 40-yard dash which would have been the sixth-best time at this past NFL Combine. That was enough to earn a tryout with the Browns which still didnât come easy for Sheehy-Guiseppi who was now stuck in Miami without a way to make it north. So he saved up whatever money he could by continuing to sleep outside a 24-hour fitness gym and once again finding food where ever he could.
Eventually Sheehy-Guiseppi made it the Cleveland tryout where he impressed the team once again and was officially signed by the team on April 5th.
Again whether youâre a Steelers fan, Bengals fan or whatever I donât know how you donât cheer for this guy.