Though it is unlikely there have been quite a few examples of division three football players making their way to the NFL. In fact, there are currently 6 players in the NFL that played their college football in division three.
Oftentimes division three football players are going to have to take long winding roads in order to get to an active NFL roster.
It is not uncommon for Division three football players to spend years in other leagues and practice squads before they finally get their shot at the NFL.
That all being said some of these D3 players that have made the NFL have gone on to have very productive careers.
How do you get noticed by the NFL as a D3 football player?
Now that you know that D3 football players can make the NFL you may be wondering how these players are able to get noticed by NFL scouts.
To get a better understanding of how this works we are going to break down some of the key ways a division three football player can get onto a scout’s radar.
Outplay your competition by a large margin
The best way to catch the eye of an NFL scout is to play at a level they can’t ignore. Unfortunately for division three athletes, this means you are going to have to play significantly better than the rest of the league.
The vast majority of these players are not going to the NFL which means if you make it to the next level you will be playing against significantly better opponents.
To display you can play against NFL talent you need to be able to dominate at the division three level.
If your stats and tape are good enough an NFL scout will take a look. These scouts do not discriminate against talent, if a Division Three player is good enough they will be happy to look at his tape.
Display elite athleticism
One of the common themes with long-shot NFL prospects is that these players are often incredibly athletic.
Whether they were late to playing football or simply didn’t have proper coaching NFL teams have brought in many players that haven’t shown great football talent but had elite athleticism.
The best way to show off athleticism is through easily comparable tests.
One of the best way of doing this is via NFL combine exercises. Bench press broad jump and the forty yard dash are all examples of common exercises used to determine the athleticism of nfl prospects.
If a division three player is able to put up incredible numbers in any of these exercises they may be able to catch the eye of an NFL scout.
The idea with athletic prospects like this is that they already have the tools to succeed they just need the guidance to get there.
Enter other pro football leagues
Another way in which D3 football players can make the NFL is by getting noticed in other professional leagues.
Unfortunately for division three players there are not often going to be scouts at their college football games.
But if these players are able to get into the CFL or the XFL they stand a better chance of being noticed.
Spending a few more years to perfect their craft and filling out their frames can make pro league players better prospects than division three players.
There have been many examples of players being brought over from professional leagues like the CFL to the NFL.
That’s all for our guide on D3 players in the NFL to see more similar content check our guide answering if D2 players can make the NFL.
