INDIANAPOLIS – After the Super Bowl decorations have been removed from Lucas Oil Stadium three weeks from now and the confetti swept off the turf, the NFL's focus will again turn to Indianapolis. The city will play host to the NFL Combine, where the top prospects eligible for the NFL draft have showcased their talents for NFL scouts since 1986.
The NFL aims to bring the best college players to the combine, but every year a few slip through the cracks and aren't invited to participate. Often these are from smaller schools, like Ball State. The Cardinals have not had a player invited to the combine since 2009, when quarterback Nate Davis participated. This year will be no different. All-Mid-American Conference safety Sean Baker is Ball State's best NFL prospect, but has not been invited to the combine.
But not making it to the combine is no death sentence to a career in the NFL. Sunday's Super Bowl will feature two players who didn't get the chance to work out in Indianapolis, but are excelling now.
Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz was lightly regarded coming out of UMass, which, at the time, played in the Football Championship Subdivision. He knew he would have a harder time getting the attention of NFL front offices than he would have if he had gone to a bigger school.
"I understood the process and understood that I wasn't a guy that had blazing statistics or was 6-6, 230 or anything like that," he said.
Cruz was not invited to the NFL combine in 2010 and ultimately went undrafted. He signed as a free agent with the Giants shortly after the draft. Cruz said he had expected not to be picked, but was ready to work for his roster spot.
Patriots safety Sterling Moore was in a similar situation to Cruz last April. Moore was not invited to the combine after finishing his senior year at Southern Methodist, but said he wouldn't have been able to participate in the event anyway because of a knee injury.
He too went undrafted and signed with the Oakland Raiders after the lockout ended in July. Moore was cut by the Raiders in mid-October and signed to the Patriots' practice squad a little more than a week later. With such an unconventional path to the Super Bowl, Moore is taking everything in stride for now.
"I just try not to think about it right now, especially with this game Sunday," Moore said. "It'll be something I'll think about definitely after the season and kind of reflect on how I got here. But now I'm just looking forward to the Giants."
Sunday, Cruz and Moore will find themselves facing each other on the field. Because Cruz often lines up in the slot, Moore will undoubtedly be asked to cover him at times. And if the conference championship games were any indication, either Moore or Cruz could find themselves in a game-breaking situation.
Cruz caught 10 passes for 142 yards in New York's 20-17 win at San Francisco. Moore, meanwhile, secured his place in Patriots' lore when he knocked the ball out of wide receiver Lee Evans' hands in the end zone in final minute of New England's 23-20 victory against Baltimore. If Evans had come down with the ball, it likely would have been the game-winning score.
Moore said he hasn't comprehended the idea that his play will forever be a key piece of the franchise's tradition.
"Everybody else is tweeting me and texting me that I'm going down in history for that play," he said. "But we have another big game on Sunday, so if I came out here and screw this game up, it means nothing."
While the play's impact might be lessened if the Patriots' lose Sunday, he and Cruz will still stand as an example of what overlooked and undrafted players can still have on the NFL's biggest stage. With that in mind, Cruz offered some advice to unheralded athletes at smaller colleges who still dream of making it big one day.
"Never let anyone tell you no," Cruz said. "Never let anyone tell you that you can't make it or that you can't do something.
"My thing is just to maintain focus and do everything you can to make it here. If you really have the drive and determination, you'll make it."
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