It’s a great feeling to wake up every day and know that you’re a professional football player, but you’re humbled every day because every day someone is cut.
My roommate, Kevin Zurecki, was having a great camp, and a lot of guys thought he was having a great camp. Well, I looked next to my locker and it was cleaned out when I got out of the shower. We both didn’t see it coming, and he was pretty upset.
I told him I wished I could say something, but there was nothing to say. Everybody comes here for himself, if you really think about it. Kevin is now one of my good friends–and will continue to be–but he got cut, and I’m glad it wasn’t me.
It’s sad to say, and it’s not really my style to say that because I’m so team-oriented, but when you’re in the NFL, it’s you.
A pretty cool thing happened on Tuesday. We have a few injured receivers, so I’m getting a lot more reps. Before I was getting six reps a practice. Now I get about 20 reps.
We were doing a situational play. Things weren’t going great, so we ran a play, and I came underneath across the middle and couldn’t really see quarterback Ken Dorsey. But he put it out there a little low, so I dove and caught it.
People were looking for someone to pick us up, and I just happened to be the guy. All the guys started getting around, telling me “Good job.” It’s nice to hear.
Being a free agent, I don’t hear “Good job” a whole lot. I needed that. I needed a day where I broke out and said, “Here I am, and this is what I can do.”
I need to prove to them I’m worth something and that I’m not like everybody else. I need to not drop any balls. Dropped balls get noticed for the wrong reason.
I just kind of want to separate myself a little bit. And I think yesterday was a little different. I think I took my first real step.
– – –
P.J.’s mailbag
P.J. Fleck, a graduate of Kaneland High School and Northern Illinois, writes a journal for RedEye every Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail him at chicagosports.com/college.
———-
Edited by the sports staff of RedEye.
