[SportsLive]

IRVINE — There are all sorts of paths to the NFL, Travis Wilson trying to find one right now as a tight end running the most slanted of routes.

Or maybe you think it’s completelynormal to go from selling flip-flops to the public to huddling with the Rams.

Click here....

“Not your typical story going into the NFL,” Wilson said. “I’m definitely grateful for this opportunity.”

Around the league this summer, there aren’t many underdogs easier to root for than this one, Wilson just one of three former Pac-12 quarterbacks in Rams camp, though he’s the only one currently catching passes.

Following his time at San Clemente High and the University of Utah, Wilson signed as a free agent in February after switching positions but refusing to budge from his dream of making the NFL.

That’s a desire that never wavered, even as Wilson took a job at Toes on the Nose, which sits right on Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach.

The surf shop is owned by John Allred, who coached Wilson at San Clemente, and served as a perfect place to work while he was back at home and remaking himself as a football player.

“It’s definitely a humbling experience,” Wilson, 23, said. “But I was really happy to get that job and make a little extra money.”

About seven months ago, Wilson began working out with quarterback coach Jordan Palmer, who played in the NFL and had trained Wilson in the past.

Each session, they would spend 45 minutes doing quarterback drills and 45 minutes doing receiver drills, Wilson aware that changing positions might be his better NFL option.

Among the players throwing to him then was Deshaun Watson, another Palmer client who had just won a national championship at Clemson and was about to be a first-round pick of the Houston Texans.

Even though Wilson, at that point, was nowhere near the NFL, he was close enough to NFL talent to appreciate what he was pursuing.

His college career having ended with a victory in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl, Wilson spent time in a minicamp with the Cincinnati Bengals but never advanced farther.

At one point, he signed with the National Gridiron League, a developing venture in Australia, only to see the operation fold about a month before it was supposed to begin.

He also was being courted by an Australian Rules Football team, the Essendon Bombers, who were interested in Wilson as a ruckman, despite the fact he didn’t even know what a ruckman is.

Turns out, at 6-foot-7, Wilson was appealing because a ruckman’s duties include going high in the air to catch the ball.

The Bombers sent Wilson apparel and footballs, and he tried to learn more about the game from one of his old college roommates, Tom Hackett, an Australian who earned national recognition punting at Utah.

Essendon asked Wilson to shoot video of himself kicking and catching the ball, the possibilities intriguing enough that the Aussies were willing to scout him from roughly 8,000 miles away.

“I was thinking about giving it a go,” he said. “But it would have been tough because I never played the sport.”

Instead, Wilson’s progress as a tight end reached the point where Palmer helped arrange a tryout with the Rams, who were clearly intrigued by the possibilities, too, only from a much more manageable proximity.

Wilson signed without having to audition for any other teams, a bit of a rarity for an undrafted free agent looking for a chance.

“Since nothing really was working out for me as a quarterback, I think the position change was kind of a no-brainer,” he said. “I was really happy to move on and try something new.”

Now, he’s here at UC Irvine, running routes for Jared Goff (Cal) and Sean Mannion (Oregon State), both of whom Wilson matched up against as Utah’s quarterback.

His path is an unlikely one, all right, one that led him on the final play of practice Tuesday to the back of the end zone, where Wilson leapt from the crowd to secure a scoring pass, exactly the kind of play the Essendon Bombers would have applauded.

“It’s definitely weird to be catching balls from them now,” Wilson said of Goff and Mannion. “But we’re all good friends. We have a pretty good Pac-12 connection going.”

Plenty of college quarterbacks have made it to the NFL at other positions, the current glowing example being Julian Edelman, who went from calling signals at Kent State to hoisting Super Bowl trophies as a receiver with New England.

And, like Edelman, Wilson was known as a runner as well as a passer in college, Wilson’s distinctly downhill style earning him a nickname among the Utes his freshman year: “Bulldog.”

His favorite college player was Tim Tebow because, Wilson once explained, “he runs over people.” At San Clemente, Wilson knocked an opposing cornerback out of the game by lowering his shoulder going for the goal line.

“I’m not one to shy away from contact,” said the former Pop Warner League middle linebacker, who today is listed at 258 pounds. “I’ve been that way since I was growing up. That’s still in my mindset.”

And so is making it to the NFL, one way or another, Wilson’s route from surf to turf not at all typical yet altogether terrific.

[phoenixrising]

I remember watching this guy play QB at Utah. Good athlete. Didn't make the connection with the Ram TE. He actually made a few nice plays in camp while I was there. I didn't pay much attention because I figured he was just camp fodder. I'll keep an eye on him.