No matter what happens over the next month, Doug Warrick will never have to look back and wonder, “What if?”
Undeterred that he is coming out of unheralded Elon University in North Carolina—not exactly a breeding ground for future pros—the Steinert High School graduate is giving everything he has to try and reach the National Football League.
On Feb. 26, Warrick showed himself well at the NFL Regional Combine in Baltimore. On March 31 he will participate in a Pro Day at Appalachian State in North Carolina, and his agent Bill Deni has arranged for Warrick to attend tryouts for the Jets and Giants. As of mid-March he was also trying to work out something with the Eagles—players can only try out with teams that are within certain distances of their homes.
As far as the tight end is concerned, he is playing with house money and just wants to give it his best shot so he will have no future regrets.
“That’s exactly where I’m at,” he said. “I love the game of football, I always have. I’d love to continue playing as a career.”
Steinert coach Dan Caruso, who has kept in touch with Warrick, feels his former player is a long shot that has a good shot.
“For a kid like Doug, all he has to hope for is to get into a camp,” Caruso said. “If somebody gives him an opportunity, that’s all he needs. You hear stories like this all the time, about guys making it. I’m hoping someone does take a flyer on him.”
After playing football and baseball for Steinert, Warrick graduated in 2011 with a build that would barely inspire thoughts of college, let alone the NFL. He went to Cheshire Academy in Connecticut where he began to bulk up en route to earning first-team All-Area and second-team All-New England honors.
“Doug always had a ton of ability,” Caruso said. “He always had the natural size. He was a little light in high school—that’s why he took that prep year which worked out great for him. He’s a competitor. He’s been getting his body ready for the next level.”
A level that Caruso feels is not unattainable.
“If anybody I coached can play on the next level, Doug can,” the coach said. “He just has that killer instinct, drive. Call it what you will. The kid is motivated. Somebody is going to give him a shot, and he’s going to do a good job for them.”
There are several positive signs for Warrick, starting with his agent. Deni, who did not respond to a request seeking an interview, is one of just two attorneys in the country to be selected to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list in Entertainment & Sports Law for six consecutive years. He is certified by the NFL Players Association as a contract advisor, represents several NFL players and serves as lead counsel in Major League Baseball Players Association arbitrations.
Guys like that don’t mess around with players who they don’t think have a chance.
Warrick’s trainer got him in touch with a handful of agents. He met Deni during that process.
“He stood out amongst them all, and he’s been the most helpful,” Warrick said. “He knew what he was talking about. He has so many different connections, he’s been doing it for a while and just has a lot of credibility. I decided I want to sign with him and get things rolling. This is a whole new experience. I don’t know what I’m doing so he’s kind of helping me out.”
Warrick made the first step himself, when he applied to be part of the Regional Combine in Baltimore. Unlike the main Combine in Indianapolis, which is by invite, players are allowed to register on their own in January. Once a player passes a quick evaluation, they are accepted.
“There are a couple of rules, but it’s not real hard to get there,” Warrick said.
Bolstered by some good luck calls from Caruso and several of his assistants, Warrick headed to Baltimore for the five-and-a-half hour observation period. With his already impressive size of 6-foot-6, 255 pounds, he impressed some onlookers by running a 4.84 40 and a 4.3 short shuttle, vertical jumping 34 inches, broad jumping 10 feet, 1 inch, and doing 28 reps on the bench press.
Nerves never entered the picture.
“There’s no pressure on me to do well, or anything like that,” Warrick said. “You’re obviously competing to play at the highest level, you know your talent, you know how good you are. You just kind of go in there and give it your all. It was lot of fun. I enjoyed doing it. I just tried to keep a good attitude the whole time. If something didn’t go well, if I had one dropped ball, I had to pick it up from there and keep going.”
He definitely caught a few eyes.
Afterward, Barry Barnes of locker-report.com had this to write about Warrick: “When Douglas Warrick stepped onto the field, it was reminiscent of Cincinnati Bengals tight end Matt Lengel, who performed at last year’s workout in Baltimore. Warrick is a huge target. The 6-6, 220-pound tight end made all hand catches and took off with power down the field after each grab. Hopefully, his performance will garner him a look, and he will make a NFL squad, like Lengel did.”
Barnes told Warrick all these things while interviewing, which made the big guy smile.
“I thought I did very well,” Warrick said. “All my times were in the ballpark of those at the big combine. So that made me feel really good. I caught everything well and then I was interviewed afterward and the guy was comparing me to a guy currently in the NFL. It made me think, ‘If this guy can notice me, maybe I did well, and maybe it went well.’”
Things got more encouraging when a scout for the Jets who is based in Raleigh, N.C., called Warrick to compliment him on his combine.
“He said, ‘You had a really strong combine, we’re really interested in you,’” Warrick said. “It was like that interview (with Barnes). I thought it went well personally, but what do scouts think? It was good to receive a call like that, and my agent is talking to a few other teams.”
During his four years with Elon, Warrick went through two coaching staffs and played in two different conferences. After starting as a sophomore, he had to prove himself to the new staff to maintain his job as a starter.
He did a lot of blocking over the years for a run-oriented offense and finished with 71 catches for 512 yards and three touchdowns in 46 games. As a senior, he had 17 receptions for 128 yards.
When Warrick approached head coach Rich Skorsky and tight ends coach Cris Reisert about his plan, he received their blessing.
“They were all for it,” Warrick said. “My coach said, ‘Coming from a small school, obviously, you don’t have the exposure and it’s going to be hard. But you have some measurables that not everybody has.’”
And that is what has given Warrick the confidence to pursue his dream. Ever since he was a kid he wanted to play in the NFL. He admitted that arriving at college was a bit humbling going against bigger players than he had ever faced, and said his NFL hopes took a little hit. But his dad, Dave, continued to push Doug and remind him of his attributes.
Also, it’s not unheard of for an Elon player to reach the NFL, as 12 have gotten there. The most recent were Aaron Mellette and Joshua Jones, who played one season each with Baltimore (2013) and Jacksonville (2012), respectively.
“Obviously, we don’t get a lot of attention from NFL scouts, we don’t play a lot of big teams,” Warrick said. “Right now, the only thing I really have are some measurables in my size and my weight and my ability. I’m just kind of going off that.”
He continues to work hard and is training in North Carolina with Exos, one of the top training programs in the country. Exos worked with numerous first-round draft picks last year.
Warrick knows he has to give that extra push considering where he’s from.
“Everybody wants to play at the next level,” he said. “Some guys are talented and big enough where they go to these big schools and they can get drafted and that’s great. Other kids have to be found, I’m hoping based on some of those measurables and my ability, that I can hopefully get the opportunity, get my foot in the door and stick it and stand out to somebody. Even it means making a practice squad. That’s getting a foot in the door and that’s getting an opportunity to further better myself and at one point make a roster.”
If it happens, Caruso will not be too surprised. He, too, feels it’s just a matter of Warrick getting a chance.
“For a kid 6-foot-6 and 240-some pounds, running the way he ran after catching the ball, he’s going to turn some heads,” the Spartan coach said. “Once you get into those combines and those tryout camps, those guys leave no stone unturned. They’re gonna check you out. Maybe he gets some recognition, maybe he turns some heads.”
If so, it would give Caruso a big-time feeling of pride.
“I’ve never coached a kid who ended up in the pros,” he said. “You think about, ‘Am I ever going to get one?’ and Doug’s a kid who’s got that natural size. He’s an athlete where you think maybe if he gets in the right situation it might work out for him.”
If it doesn’t, it’s not because he didn’t give it all he has.
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