NFL draft 2022 – Aqeel Glass’ rise from two-time HBCU Player of the Year to possible NFL draft pick
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ATLANTA — Inside his childhood bedroom in St. Louis that was once painted Florida orange and blue, where the walls were plastered with Tim Tebow fatheads, the floors covered in NFL cards and the closet filled with intricate puzzles, a young Aqeel Glass would fire up NCAA Football and create a custom team with Alabama A&M — his dad’s alma mater — that would go on to win the national title in the video game.
In the living room, his mom, Wendy, who grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, would play a VHS tape with interviews of the 1987-88 Washington Super Bowl-winning team featuring Grambling State quarterback Doug Williams — the first Black quarterback to win an NFL title.
Glass knew that for as long as he can remember, he wanted to play football and he wanted to play quarterback. What he didn’t expect was that trying to realize that dream would have him follow his father’s footsteps to an HBCU, or end up with Williams as a mentor. By Glass’ senior season at Lutheran North High School, he thought he had his college career mapped out at Florida International University.
Things changed quickly. In late September 2016, FIU fired coach Ron Turner and hired Butch Davis nearly a month later. When Glass got in touch with the new staff, they were clear about the direction they wanted to take the offense.
“They told me they wanted more of a dual-threat guy,” Glass said. “They weren’t looking for a pocket passer.”
Glass, 23, has spent the past few months living and training in the Atlanta suburbs with other players from historically Black colleges and universities, as well as Division I schools ahead of the NFL draft. As a 6-foot-5 pocket passer who is biracial, Glass said he’s accustomed to not exactly fitting the mold. He took the FIU fallout in stride and looked for an opportunity to get on the field as soon as possible. In November of that year, he visited Alabama A&M and was offered.
“It wasn’t the first option for me, but it would end up…
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Source : espn
