Every football player, from grade school through college, dreams of playing professionally.
It’s a dream that begins the first time a player straps on the pads. Visions of Sunday glory in front of thousands of screaming fans are the fuel that often drives players to greatness. For many, the dream is just that, an unobtainable notion that ends after high school, or if they are lucky, college.
For Max Komar, 22, however, it’s a dream that is on the cusp of becoming reality.
Komar, who played at Auburn Riverside High School and the University of Idaho, recently signed a free-agent contract with the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League.
After a stellar career with Idaho – including a clutch touchdown catch for the Vandals in their dramatic Humanitarian Bowl comeback victory over Bowling Green in December – Komar got his first taste of the NFL last weekend, turning out for the Cardinals’ mini-camp in Arizona.
“It was good,” Komar said. “I expected it to just be a rookie camp, but it was all of the team, including the veterans. It was good to get down there and meet the veterans and get a feel for how they do things. It’s like a job for them, and they approach it like it’s a business.”
Although Komar signed a two-year deal with the Cardinals after going unpicked in the NFL draft, nothing is guaranteed for the 5-feet-11, 205-pound wide receiver.
In order to collect on his contract and be able to suit up for the Cardinals on Sunday, Komar has to prove that he has the skills and tenacity to play at the highest level of football.
“I still have to make the team,” Komar said. “I go to what they call OTAs (organized team activities) from May 16 to (preseason camp in late) July. While I’m down there, they pay for my place to stay and I get money every day (to live on). But nothing is guaranteed.”
To make the team, Komar will have to compete against 10 other receivers, including veterans Larry Fitzgerald, Early Doucet and Steve Breaston, all vying for a spot on the regular-season roster.
The Cardinals have four rookie receivers trying to make the team, including the 87th pick in the draft, Andrew Roberts, who played college ball for The Citadel.
Komar, who was a walk-on at Idaho, says he has the goods however to make the team.
“I think I can do a lot of different things,” he said. “I can play as an outside receiver and in the slot. A lot of the big guys can only play outside. I’m also really good at special teams. I played a lot in college. That gives me one up on the other guys, just getting in the special teams coaches ear and letting him know I want to play special teams.”
Although the competition to make the squad is fierce, Komar added that it wasn’t cutthroat at the mini-camp.
“We’re all helping each other out. We’re all doing everything we can to make the team,” he said. “We’re all there for each other and helping each other out, but at the same time we’re all doing everything we can to make the team.”
Komar added that he also benefitted from just being on the same field as Fitzgerald, an All-Pro performer and seven-year veteran – as well as from the other veterans.
“You just watch him, learn from all of them and how they do it and model the game after how they go about the business of the game,” Komar said.
For Komar, just getting a chance to play is a validation of a lifetime of hard work on the practice and playing field, a chance to do what most players only dream of.
“Of course, you want to play professionally,” he said, “but I didn’t know if it was realistic. But I knew it was possible.”
