Texas Tech football: Red Raider rookies look to tackle NFL

When you ask most people at Tech what Gabe Oladipo did, they might say track and field. While that is true, the former thrower is trying his hand at the NFL. Oladipo might be the most unlikely Red Raider of this bunch to get an invite to an NFL camp, but the Pittsburgh Steelers did just that.

The Steelers took a chance on Oladipo despite the fact that he did not take a single snap of college football. While he did play football in high school at Fort Bend Hightower, Oladipo decided to do track and field at the next level. He had success for three years in Wes Kittley’s track program but joined the football team just this past season.

He was granted a waiver by the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility and spent most of his only year with the program on the scout team. McGuire and the coaches praised him, prompting the Steelers to take a flyer on the massive prospect.

His size is enough to spark interest, but trying to make an NFL team when you have not played football since high school is a tall order. Rookie minicamp for Pittsburgh wrapped up a few days ago and as of now, no news has been reported on Oladipo being signed. This likely means the Steelers passed on signing him simply due to his lack of college ball experience.

Despite this, Oladipo could sign with another team before camps open in July and get another shot. The odds however are not in his favor, though. Still, to draw interest from an NFL team when you did not play a single down in college is an accomplishment. Hopefully, Oladipo will gain interest from other clubs due to the Steelers’ experiment.

Official training camp rosters will be announced more toward mid-July, but the future looks good for Wilson and the other Red Raiders looking to make a roster. Joey McGuire is still continuing to build his program and to put more Tech players in the NFL after just his first year is a good start. Young recruits and even current players in the program have guys to look up to.