Out of 100,000 high school seniors, only 215 will play in the NFL. Let me calculate these numbers, that’s less than 0 percent, it’s 0.2% to be specific. The odds are against you. Those same odds were against Terence Garvin coming out of Townson, MD. Garvin, a three-star player, was recruited by UCONN, Maryland, Syracuse and West Virginia. He ultimately signed with West Virginia and played as a true freshman in 2009. He had good sophomore and junior seasons playing safety and then with a coaching change was moved to outside linebacker his last year. His senior season was not one to remember. Garvin was left undrafted and unsigned with a steep hill to climb.
I caught up with Garvin recently to talk about how in the hell he made it to the NFL.
6Magazine: Talk about your journey to the NFL.
Garvin: I played college ball at West Virginia. I was there for four years. We were good too. I was going to leave after my junior year, but I stayed. My senior year, we had a coaching change and I had a position change. We weren’t that good on defense. I wasn’t invited to the combine, but I went to WVU’s Pro Day. I wasn’t drafted and wasn’t signed after the draft either. I had a tryout with the Steelers.
6Magazine: Explain the tryout.
Garvin: It’s almost like being a college walk-on. I mean, you have to be invited. You’re almost like a camp body. We’re all at camp together and practicing together. I was making a lot of plays out there. I ended up getting signed to the 90 man roster.
6Magazine: What are the odds of someone making the team from a tryout?
Garvin: Really slim. One of the other people inside the organization that’s been around the team for a long time said he’s never seen anyone make the team from a tryout. I worked really hard though and focused on my craft. God has a plan for everybody, and He just made my story a little bit different.
6Magazine: From the time, when you went undrafted to the time when you made the 53 man roster last September, did you get better as a player or were you just overlooked?
Garvin: Kind of both. I changed positions my last year of college. I went from safety to outside linebacker. The Steelers then moved me to inside linebacker. I just go out there and try to make plays. I started getting in our nickel package. I always continue to grow. You want to grow everyday. You really don’t know when it’s going to be your time, so you always need to be ready for it.
6Magazine: Going into camp this year, were you more relaxed since you made the team last year?
Garvin: You don’t ever have time to take a breath. You can never take a breath. The moment you take a breath is when you get got. It made me even more hungry. I saw that I could do it and I want to go all the way out. It actually makes me work that much harder.
6Magazine: What advice would you give younger athletes that want to make it to the NFL
Garvin: You’ve got to work. You need to go in the weight room and work. You can’t go halfway. You need to take care of your body. You need to be drinking your water. You need to be doing your pushups when you’re at home and working on your core. It’s just about always doing something. You can’t stop working. In college they tell you what to do, in the pros, you have to be a professional and do what you’re supposed to do and the extra stuff on your own.
Making to the NFL isn’t easy. It requires hard work and a lot of luck. Garvin could have had a tryout with the Raiders, Bucs, Browns — organizations notorious for making terrible front office decisons. If Garvin lands at tryout with one of those teams, they probably wouldn’t see his talent and he might not be in the NFL. As luck would have it, one of the best organizations in all of sports gave this kid a chance. Then Garvin….seized his opportunity. The average NFL career is 3.3 years. Garvin is in his second season. He’s already beaten several odds and obstacles in his life to a pulp. I wouldn’t bet against him.