Good article on Kelly Poppinga on Sun-sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-poppinga051208,0,3717469.story
Here's the text:
- Before last month's NFL draft, Brigham Young University linebacker Kelly Poppinga got calls from 15 different teams and visits with Seattle and the Miami Dolphins.
Then he watched 252 players, including 30 linebackers, get drafted while the phone remained silent.
"You know what, it doesn't matter now," Poppinga said after admitting he was disappointed on draft day. "I got a great situation here with Miami and I'm just excited to keep things rolling."
The 6-1, 240-pounder talked to six teams after the draft before signing with the Dolphins, where he's working as an inside linebacker.
In Poppinga's senior season, his lone year as a starter at BYU, he recorded a team-leading 113 tackles (7.5 for loss), five pass breakups and an interception. He was selected as a second-team All-Mountain West Conference performer and a two-time Academic All-MWC selection. Draft scouts praised his speed and knowledge of the game, but added he needed to play more physically to flourish at the next level.
"I think the Dolphins are lucky to get someone like Kelly," Dolphins quarterback and former BYU teammate John Beck said on the Cougars Web site. "I know they will be very happy with his character, work ethic, and the fact that he comes from a winning tradition at BYU."
Poppinga's signing adds depth behind potential starters Channing Crowder, Akin Ayodele and Reggie Torbor. His present competition for a roster spot is most likely Edmond Miles, who signed with the team as a rookie free agent out of Iowa last season, Kelvin Smith, a seventh-round draft pick out of Syracuse in 2007, and fellow rookie free agent Titus Brown.
"[The first day of rookie minicamp] we only had one coverage in," said Poppinga, a native of Evanston, Wyo. "Now we have five coverages in…there's a lot more things coming at you."
Poppinga's brother, Brady, is entering his fourth year with the Packers. Also, a BYU alumnus, the elder Poppinga has started the last two seasons and has notched 110 tackles.
"The one thing he told me is you have to make plays," said Kelly Poppinga, a Mormon who spent two years on a mission in Ecuador before finishing out his college career. "You have to show the coaches that you're there and you're going to help them win. If you show them that, you're going to be on the team. Hopefully I've done that."
