The chip on New York Giants linebacker Spencer Paysinger’s shoulder never leaves.
He didn’t lose it after getting signed as undrafted free agent by the Giants in 2011. He didn’t lose it after making the team at the end of training camp. That chip is what fuels his positional battle with Jacquian Williams for the team’s current opening at weakside linebacker.
“I’ll never lose that chip on my shoulder. The fact that I’ve taken the less desired road to get here, I’ll never lose that chip,” Paysinger said.
That chip is needed to endure the uphill battle many undrafted free agents must overcome in getting noticed by NFL teams. For Paysinger, that meant diversifying his skillset — something a then-unknown Victor Cruz told Paysinger.
“When I first got here, it was before Victor [Cruz] blew up. He had like 3,000 followers at the time,” he joked. ” Victor told me ‘as much as you can do for the team the better. Make it hard for the team to let you go. Every team needs a couple guys who can a few different positions. Make sure you’re one of those guys.’ “
After playing linebacker and on special teams all four years at Oregon — a mandate for all starters on both offense and defense for the Ducks — Paysinger was without a position on the Giants position, instead playing on the special unit scout team.
He watched as special teams coach Tom Quinn ‘beat his head’ over teaching a blocking technique to his starters — a technique he regularly used while at Oregon. Seeing an opportunity to show his versatility, he went into Quinn’s office after practice to offer up his services. The next day he was in on the special teams unit.
And the rest was history.
A history that many undrafted players got to live out as well. Based on a break-down of NFL rosters from last year’s cut-down date (the day rosters are first trimmed to 53 players), there are almost 50 percent more undrafted free agents in the NFL as there are first-round picks, a margin of 412-277. No team had fewer than nine undrafted players to start the year last year, and the NFL average is nearly 13 per team, meaning at least a few in each training camp are going to get lucky.
Along with Paysinger, undrafted linebacker Mark Herzlich and fullback Henry Hynoski got lucky in 2011. Now heading into the 2013 season Herzlich is vying for the starting middle linebacker role and Hynoski, recently removed off the PUP list after shoulder surgery, is the team’s starting fullback.
“I just had to hone in to the little things, get involved with special teams as much as I could. I talked to the coaches on what I could do better and if there’s anything I could bring to the table.”
Focusing on seizing an opportunity and making an impact on special teams is what Paysinger, now a Super Bowl champion, preaches to undrafted players, like hybrid safety/linebacker Alonzo Tweedy, trying to make the team.
“They all tell me the same thing: when you get the opportunities you have to take advantage of it,” Tweed said.
An undrafted rookie out of Virginia Tech, Tweed is making the conversion from linebacker to safety, but hopes to make his presence felt on special teams — where we was a stud for the Hokies and Frank Beamer’s esteemed special teams unit.
Tweedy started only three games on defense for the Hokies in 2012, playing the third safety role in the box in place of a true linebacker. Tweedy played 220 snaps on special teams as a senior at Virginia Tech and only 175 snaps on defense.
Understanding the tougher road he’s been given to be great in the NFL, Tweedy’s happy to be apart of a Super Bowl-winning organization such as the Giants. He described the challenge of converting from linebacker to safety as his biggest obstacle thus far in training camp. When he is in on special teams, however, Tweed feels at home, as he was a standout on the kick coverage team while playing for the Hokies.
If he hopes to avoid being a roster casualty, special teams will be where he’ll mark his mark.
Tweedy is listed as a linebacker, yet is 6-foot-2, 193 pounds and has seen the majority of his playing time as the Giants’ third big safety — playing the box in the place of a true linebacker.
His versatility on defense and history at playing punt, punt return and kick-off return at Virginia Tech will help, but his roster spot is complicated by the Giants likely keeping three quarterbacks — a spot where they’ve carried two in the past — and by the fact that long snapper Zak DeOssie has a guaranteed contract and plays no defensive position. It’ll be difficult to add another specialist.
“Whenever you get an opportunity you have to take advantage of it,” Tweedy said. “That’s how I look at it. Whenever they put me on special teams or defense I just try to take advantage of it. You never know when you’ll get another opportunity.”
The day Paysinger got his opportunity easily took one or two years off his life due to the stress, according to him.
On the day of roster cuts, the team told the players to be available around the stadium for the following two days. If they didn’t receive a phone call before 6pm they had made the team.
To make the time pass himself, Herzlich and Hynoski went out to IHOP to take their minds off their impending anxiety. They ate their pancakes and eggs in silence as the impending situation couldn’t be washed away with a short stack and tall glass of milk.
Around 4pm Paysinger got a phone call from a 201 area code number. His heart dropped.
“Spencer?”
“Yes?”
“Do you know where your roommate is?”
“He walked out about a half hour ago, I’m not sure where he is.”
“Well if you see him tell him we’re looking for him.”
“And what about me?”
“We’re still going through the roster process, but as far as I can tell right now you’re OK.”
He didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until 7pm. After making the team, Paysinger still hasn’t exhaled as he believes that chip is what still drives him today.
“With myself going on three years some might think that it’s gone. Some may think I have proven myself on special teams and provided for this team,” Paysinger said. “But I’ll never lose that chip on my shoulder.”
It’s a chip that Tweedy hopes to carve into a niche on special teams and eventually a spot on the Giants’ roster. Tweedy acknowledges the nerve-racking roster cuts that lie ahead of him, but for right now he’s only focused on making an impact.
“I really try to push it out of my mind until the day comes,” Tweedy said.
A day that will come on August 27th.
