Former Ohio State linebacker Steele Chambers takes next step in NFL journey | Oller
This is the final in a series of stories on Steele Chambers’ quest to continue his football career in the NFL. The former Ohio State linebacker, who went undrafted last month, recently signed as a free agent with the Detroit Lions and reports to the team's rookie mini-camp Thursday in Detroit.
Steele Chambers at least was comforted by one of his best friends when the bad news dropped.
As the NFL draft wound down last month, and Chambers’ name still had not been called, the former Ohio State linebacker took some solace in spending the last few hours with his most trusted companion, Maverick, the Siberian Husky.
“I wasn’t watching the draft.” Chambers said. “I was sitting on a rock at the (Chattahoochee River in Georgia). Me and my dog. You just want to be drafted. It’s what you work for. Just disappointed.”
Chambers was down but not out. As the sixth round gave way to the seventh, and the seventh trickled to its end, Chambers’ agent, Michael Perrett, worked the phones to get his client signed as a free agent. Within hours of the draft packing up and leaving Detroit, Chambers was preparing to enter the Motor City. The 23-year-old signed with the Detroit Lions to play linebacker and serve on special teams.
In at least one way, Chambers came out ahead. He got to pick his team.
“It just sucked not getting drafted, but I took a walk, realized the situation I was in and, ‘Time to move on to Detroit,’” Steele said. “My agent told me different options, and Detroit sounded like the best one. He said they were pretty enthusiastic over the phone, that they would be happy to have me there. And the money stuff made sense.”
Chambers did not want to disclose terms of his contract, but the average rookie free agent gets paid about $1,000 per week during training camp and about $750,000 if he makes the active roster or is signed to the practice squad.
Chambers signed a “phenomenal” deal with Detroit, Perrett said, with “guarantees in the contract that are better than a seventh rounder.”
Plan B was not music to Steele Chambers' ears
That is somewhat small consolation to Steele, who trained in Florida for months in hopes of hearing his name called during the draft.
“Once it hit the seventh round, my agent called and talked about plan B. I didn’t like hearing that, but that’s the reality of it,” Chambers said.
What happened?
“He was very close to getting drafted. We just ran out of picks,” Perrett said.
It did not help that Chambers, at 6-foot, 230 pounds, is considered small for an NFL linebacker. He has above-average speed, and led the Buckeyes with 83 tackles last season, but the NFL falls into cookie cutter mode on draft day. If you don’t fit the physical mold of a typical linebacker, you become a higher-risk option.
No matter. Chambers is not a chip-on-the-shoulder type, but admitted he is out to prove he should have been drafted like his college roommates, tight end Cade Stover (fourth round by Houston) and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg (fifth round by Las Vegas).
He'll begin that effort Thursday with the Lions’ rookie mini-camp.
Detroit offers a few Ohio State connections, including offensive linemen Taylor Decker and former linebacker Chris Spielman, who is special assistant to team president and CEO Rod Wood.
Chris Spielman proved doubters wrong
Spielman proved doubters wrong coming out of Ohio State. Critics pointed out his lack of speed as reason he would struggle in the NFL, but his instincts and toughness helped him become Detroit’s all-time leader in career tackles (1,138).
Chambers becomes a free-agent steal if he can match even half of Spielman’s production.
Not that he’s interested in creating a legacy just yet. True to his propensity to live in the moment, the Georgia native said he just wants to grind out a spot on Detroit's roster, which he realizes is no sure thing.
“One thing I’ve learned is that nothing is guaranteed in life,” he said. “I’m just going in with the goal of making the team and having an impact any way I can.”
And if it doesn’t work out? He left OSU with a finance degree.
“Maybe something in real estate,” he said. “Or something involving broadcasting. I know my mom talked to Urban Meyer about it about four or five months ago. He said to give him a call.”
The No. 1 goal remains to play in the NFL. Chambers heads to Detroit this week prepared to make it happen. The Lions will put him up in a hotel and feed him. The rest is up to him. The draft did not work out, but the dream continues.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: NFL: Detroit Lions sign Ohio State football LB Steele Chambers
