Undrafted players left out in the cold by NFL lockout

For players not selected in April's NFL draft, the pain of the lockout can be high.

Especially if they have to move back in with their parents.

That's what has happened to Dain Taylor, a DE from Drake University who has been relying on his parents for food and lodging while he trains to keep his NFL dream alive.
"I know my mom wants me to get a job," Taylor told the Denver Post, "but she also understands that this is my dream, so she's going to support me for a while, for a reasonable amount of time."

The undrafted free agents are in lockout limbo. Typically, they sign contracts with NFL teams in the hours and days after the draft. Then they attend minicamps and OTA activities that afford them a chance to win a regular-season job.

But with the offseason schedule likely shuttered because of the lockout, all of that time is lost.

Undrafted free agents must decide whether to wait out the lockout for an NFL chance, take a flyer on playing in the UFL or CFL or give up on their football dreams and get a normal job.

"These guys are in a very tough spot. They might be in the toughest position there is," free-agent DE Justin Bannan told the Post.

"Going through minicamps is important for these young guys because they can get a feel for how a practice is going to go, how everything is going to go, before they even put pads on. I don't envy where they're at, I really don't."