Ex-Bouncer Turned NFL Pro

Good morning! This is the last time I'll hit your inbox in the year 2022. Let's go out with a bang.

Here's what's coming:

• How a series of odd jobs kept one player's dream alive

• The kicker behind the comeback

• From sleeping in his dad's car to NFL star

Let's dive in.

Hat tip to a new subscriber for submitting today's question – thanks, Bob!

Odd Jobs Kept His Dream Alive

Nathan Shepherd left college because he couldn't afford tuition.

He was 20, out of money, and his dream of playing football was slipping away.

Between 12-hour shifts at a box factory, he worked out and took online courses to maintain eligibility.

"I was in a plant nursery and also was employed as a bouncer. There was a stop at a printing factory and some time in security. I was a resident's assistant and I worked in construction."

He met a personal trainer who put him through a rigorous program that included 1,000 push-ups a day, alongside weight training.

In two years, he went from 250 pounds to nearly 315.

Finally, after saving up enough money to pay for a semester's tuition, he walked on to Division II Fort Hayes State University.

The results of his hard work showed on the field instantly.

Shepherd quickly earned a full scholarship and became a three-year starter.

Then, after he dominated at the 2018 Senior Bowl, the New York Jets selected him in the 3rd round of the NFL Draft.

Today, he's a 5-year NFL veteran and an anchor on the Jets' defensive line.

"I always talk about Nate Shepherd being the king of strain in terms of the effort and the violence in which you play," said head coach Robert Saleh.

"And because of it, I love Nate Shepherd, I love him to death."

Greg Joseph got cut by FAU as a walk-on freshman kicker.

Undeterred, he kept training and ended up finishing his career as the school's all-time leader in field goals.

In the NFL, he's been a member of six different teams since 2018 and has been cut countless times.

Over the weekend, Joseph hit the game-winning field goal in overtime to help the Vikings complete the largest comeback in NFL history.

From Zero-Star Recruit to NFL Rushing Leader

When Josh Jacobs was in 4th grade, his parents split up. So he went to live with his father, Marty.

Times were tough.

In the beginning, they didn't have a place to call home.

They couch-surfed, motel-hopped, and eventually started sleeping in Marty's Suburban.

Josh would shower in the locker room after practice, then his dad would pick him up and find a spot on the side of the road to park for the night.

When food was in short supply, Marty Jacobs wouldn’t eat.

“I didn’t really understand it all at the time — the way we were living, the sacrifices my dad was making…none of it."

On the football field, Josh dominated.

But his stat lines were so ridiculous that his local newspaper wouldn’t even print them.

They thought his coach padded the numbers to make his running back look good.

“I sat back and watched as other kids with less impressive stats got their names in the paper and won all kinds of weekly awards.”

By the middle of his senior year, Jacobs was averaging 300 rushing yards per game.

Yet, he had zero scholarship offers.

He was shattering state records, but college coaches had never heard of him.

With the clock ticking on his recruiting window, Josh didn’t know where else to turn.

He couldn’t afford to attend showcases, and his high school didn’t have a history of high-profile recruits.

That's when everything changed.

Marty Jacobs got a call from a random guy in Texas.

He called himself “G. Smith” and said he helped high school players get recruited.

“This is one of the best highlight tapes I’ve ever seen...how does he not have any offers?"

Smith helped Josh set up his social media accounts.

He told him to post his highlights and said he’d take it from there.

“I don’t know what he did…but like a day or two after I started posting my highlights, my phone started ringing off the hook.”

And just like that, offers started rolling in.

Word quickly reached Alabama, and they offered Josh a scholarship on the spot.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Josh worked his way into a starting role under Coach Saban and became a first-round draft pick.

Now he's the NFL's leading rusher.

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⭐ Trivia Answer:

D) Carroll Hardy – “It wasn’t a big deal, that’s for sure," Hardy told the LA Times (by the way, this article is worth your time).

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That's all for now. Thanks for reading and have a happy holiday season!

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Til next time,Tyler