Man stands outside Gillette Stadium for a month hoping to land Patriots tryout
It is extremely difficult to land a job in the NFL, where only a select few of the world's best football players can make a practice squad, never mind the active roster. But the tough market does not intimidate former University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth wide receiver Abiola Aborishade, who has stood outside of Gillette Stadium for a month with a sign for a resume and a dream of earning a tryout with the New England Patriots.
According to Mass Live, Aborishade took up his post outside Gillette on April 21, and he has stood there nearly every day since for the hours before and after his shifts at his day job at Enterprise Rent-A-Car in the hopes that his persistence will help him earn a tryout with the team.
His presence has started to attract the attention of some Patriots players. Aborishade told Mass Live that Jordan Richards, Rob Ninkovich and Malcolm Butler have all stopped to talk to him. He said Matthew Slater and James Develin wave when they drive past him. Butler recently posted a photo to Facebook citing Aborishade as an inspiration.
Aborishade is not just an average fan hoping to make the team. He was a star player during his high school football days in Attleboro, Mass., a town a few towns over from Foxboro. He made history at UMass Dartmouth during his senior season in 2014 by tallying 84 receptions -- 15 more than the previous school record of 69 receptions in a single season -- and averaged 112 yards per game over his three-year collegiate career.
But UMass Dartmouth is a Division 3 school, and it is hardly on the radar of NFL coaches and scouts. Aborishade could not afford tuition for a fourth year of college and had already earned a degree in political science, so Aborishade graduated and got a job in the working world.
His football dreams never died, however, and Aborishade told Mass Live he was inspired to start standing outside Gillette by the story of Joe Anderson, a former Bears player who stood outside the Houston Texans' stadium last year hoping to land a job. Anderson eventually signed a contract with the New York Jets to play on their practice squad. Aborishade decided to do the same in the hopes of living his NFL dreams.
The way Aborishade sees it, there are three possible outcomes of this move. Via Mass Live:
So far, Aborishade's efforts have resulted in that third outcome. But the potential wide receiver told Mass Live he does not plan to stop campaigning for a tryout any time soon. It's that type of persistence that just might help him actually earn a shot.
