Semi-Pro Players Who Made It to the NFL

[luckyshow]

Jerry Goldsteyn was a lousy QB backup on the Giants, backed up Picarcek. Had played for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the Continental Football League

[oldecapecod11]

Butch Songin is another QB who played in a lot of minor leagues and later in the majors. In fact, he was close to 40 when he had his final shot at the bigs.
Legend has it - and it is true, just not verifiable - that one week he played for three different teams in the same league.
He could have done the same thing in hockey but there were not that many hockey minor leagues with teams that
were reachable in a half-day's drive.
In the opinion of many, Butch was better than most backs mentioned here with the probable exception of western Pennsylvania's Mr. High-tops.
Butch was just not as "free" as some because he also had a full-time job as a court officer with Wrentham District Court.

[Shipley]

Mark Moseley made a brief comeback with the Fredericksburg (VA) Generals in 1996 when he was in his late 40s, and made a game-saving tackle on a kick-off return that made it on the local news. The Generals won the Mason-Dixon Football League championship that year.

[John Maxymuk]

Bob Brown who played DL for the Packers in the 60s and 70s started with the Wheeling Ironmen IIRC.

[Shipley]

Another player I remember my father coaching who wanted to play himself back into the NFL was former Giants DT Roger Anderson (1965-68), who played on the 1972 Chambersburg (PA) Cardinals in hopes he could get a fifth year in the big time so he'd qualify for a pension. Didn't happen...he was way out of shape. Cleveland Brown DB Bill Craven also played in Chambersburg in 1973 and spent a season with the Browns in 1975 after playing for the Philadelphia Bell in the WFL in 1974.

[Bob Gill]

Jerry Goldsteyn was a lousy QB backup on the Giants, backed up Picarcek. Had played for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the Continental Football League

Goldsteyn didn't play in the Continental League, or any of the top minor leagues of the 1960s. That was way too early for him, anyway. He was 15 years old when the 1960s ended.

[Reaser]

Did anyone mention Stabler yet?

or Joe Gilliam, though that's semi-pro after the NFL.

[Gary Najman]

Eric Swann played for the Bay State Titans of Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1990, and from there he was the 6th overall selection of the 1991 NFL Draft.

[Gary Najman]

Chip Myers played in 1968 for the Alabama Hawks of the Continental Football League, then went to play eight seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals.

IIRC Steve Schubert, a WR/KR who played for the Chicago Bears fom 1975-1979, played in the ACFL.

[Shipley]

Joe Gilliam played for the Baltimore Eagles after his pro career, and so did former Redskins kick returner Herb Mul-Key.