Just a few years removed from working a job in finance and watching football on the couch like the rest of us, Dolphins linebacker Cameron Wake has been named a starter for the 2010 NFL Pro Bowl.
In a season mired in mediocrity for the Dolphins, Wake has been one of the few bright spots of its young defense, leading the NFL with 14 sacks while epically fracturing opposing quarterback's skulls with his relentless badassness.
Wake went undrafted out of Penn State in 2005 and was eventually signed by the New York Giants. Two months later, New York cut him during mini-camps. No one else bothered to give him a shot, so Wake returned to his home in Maryland where he took a job in finance, where you typically don't see a lot of 6-foot-3 inch, 250-pound dudes.
But Wake soon realized that his current choice of employment was for coffee-breathed Gordon Gekko wannabe nancies who wear too much Old Spice and complain how somebody really needs to clean the microwave in the break room, and promptly made his way to Canada to join the CFL. Wake signed with the BC Lions where he quickly built a reputation for crotch-punching opposing quarterbacks into submission, leading the CFL in sacks in 2007 and 2008 and earning the league's Defensive Player of the Year award both seasons.
Several NFL teams took notice of this, and quickly swooped in to sign Wake. He ultimately chose the Dolphins and he was immediately named Jason Taylor's backup. In his first season with the Fins, Wake racked up 5.5 sacks and was eventually deemed badass enough to replace the Dolphins legend. And now in his first full-season in the NFL, Cameron Wake has 14 sacks and counting. If Cameron Wake was in the movie 300, the movie would have to be re-titled 1.
Just goes to show all the youngsters out there. It pays to never give up on your dream to be in the NFL. It worked for Cam Wake. It also helps to be a 6'3" 250 pound nitro-badass Kraken quarterback mauling behemoth. But still. Keep hope alive, kids!
Fins offensive tackle Jake Long was also selected to the Pro Bowl, his third. The game will be played in Honolulu on January 30.
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