Sorensen Article on Colin Cole

[TheRumGone]

Really enjoyed this article...

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/12/4102474/sorensen-cold-call-from-colin.html

 

Colin Cole called the Carolina Panthers and asked if they needed a nose tackle. “I was absolutely in position where pretty much it was my last opportunity,” says Cole, 32. This is how important the call was. If the Panthers reject him, Cole figures he’s out of football.

 

He’s not out of football.

 

Coach Ron Rivera says Cole likely is to make the team and the defensive tackle rotation. “I’m going to get, like, 2,000 phone calls because of this,” says Mark Koncz, Carolina’s director of pro scouting.

 

Let’s help Koncz, a nice guy who usually stays to the side and allows his employers talk to the media.

The Panthers will never post an advertisement that says: CAROLINA TO HOLD JOB FAIR FOR MEN WHO WEIGH 300 TO 350 POUNDS.

 

The Panthers keep a list of about 200 candidates they can call if starters or reserves get hurt. Cole was on it. He has played in 84 NFL games and started 34.  But Cole, who was living in the Charlotte suburbs, had been out of football two seasons. He had fired his agent.“He did cold call,” Koncz says Wednesday outside Bank of America Stadium. “But we knew of him and he was on our radar and it was just ironic that we were going to reach out to him and he reached out to us.”

 

Cole is 6-foot-2 and weighs 330 pounds. He grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and played collegiately at Iowa. Undrafted, he made the 2003 practice squad of the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie. He played for Green Bay in 2004-08.  Seattle offered a five-year, $21 million contract – the bulk of it not guaranteed. During 2009 Cole started for one of the NFL’s best run defenses. He also started in 2010 but severely injured an ankle.  He had four surgeries on the ankle and Seattle cut him before the 2011 season. He missed all of 2011 and, even though he was healthy, all of 2012.

 

Cole’s wife is from South Carolina and her sister lives in Charlotte. Charlotte’s cost of living was much more accommodating. The Coles liked the climate and thought Charlotte would be a good place to raise their two young children (and a third on the way).  Cole arranged a workout and negotiated his contract. Due to make $3.75million in 2011 in Seattle, he agreed to play for the veteran minimum with the Panthers.

 

“He will do what he has to,” says Koncz. “Hopefully it will turn out to be a good story.” Koncz didn’t offer Cole a contract until Dave Gettleman was in place as general manager. Gettleman also was a Cole proponent and Cole became the first hire of the Gettleman era.

 

When Cole was away from the game, he spent time with his family, participated in two NFL programs for players looking for real-world experience and attended a conference hosted by the International Franchise Association.  He also worried he would never play football again. “There were a number of times when I just didn’t know what to do,” says Cole. “I felt like I’d given everything I could in 2010 to try to help the team and reach the playoffs and get a playoff win, and I was trying to show the team I really cared. And it backfired on me.”

 

Cole talks after practice on the edge of Carolina’s practice field. A football field always feels 10 degrees hotter than the streets and sidewalks around it, and the streets and sidewalks around the field are hot, too. By now Cole’s new teammates have returned to their air-conditioned stadium. He is the only player left. I tell him I’ve kept him too long. He says he’s fine to stay and talk. Ron Rivera was cut by the Chicago Bears in 1992. He remembers wanting one more season. Give him one more season and he’ll be ready to retire. Or he’ll play so hard and so well he won’t be asked to.

 

A second chance is a great motivator, Rivera says. “In the years leading up to now I didn’t take it as seriously, I didn’t give as much effort,” Cole says from the artificial turf.” I didn’t really see it as much of an opportunity to really hone in and get better in my skills. It was a more tedious get-it-done, do what we have to do.”

 

His candor is rare.

 

“But that’s what I viewed it as,” Cole says. “Now I’m out here competing with the top of the top again and I have an opportunity to be part of this organization for some years to come. I just want to do everything I possibly can to be better so that everybody has confidence in me. “You know what?” he adds. “I’m more happy now than I have ever been. I’ve been an undrafted free agent, I’ve been through the wringer, I’ve been cut a few times and I’ve made the squad a few times. It’s been difficult. But I’m going to put everything I have into this right now. See where the chips might fall. But they’re going to get a better Colin Cole.” Cole says only 5 percent of the players who are out of the NFL for two seasons make it back.

 

I ask Koncz if the number is that low.

 

It’s lower, he says.

 

 

[Kurb]

Great read. He is a guy worth rooting for.

[panthers90]

Two reasons for rooting for Cole: his perseverance, and the fact that if he makes the team, more likely that Fua is gone.

[The Golden Child]

Nice article.

[Jackofalltrades]

He's a guy I certainly hope does well

[iamhubby1]

I have been on the Cole bandwagon since the day we signed him. I was my belief that if he was healthy, and he was, he could help us, and he will.

A really good vet to pair with Dwan, and help the kids. I can live with that.

[DaveThePanther2008]

What a rotation we would have if we kept him and Gaydosh (5 DTs) Edwards and Star starting with KK, Cole and Gaydosh in the rotation.  Would be awesome.

 

Ironically it would end the 2011 3rd round fiasco were we selected 2 DTs.

[PiratePanther189]

Can't dislike a vet like that in the rotation, that's for sure.

[rayzor]

i like him a lot. i thought out of the gate that he would be to the run game what dwan was to the passing game. a much needed force and good balance with the two of them together.

 

to an extent i think that star and short balance each other out in much the same way, only star is really good against the run and the pass.

[Razeyfingers]

The thing I like about a 32 yr old vet. .  He's well versed on every nuance of the game and isnt afraid to take on any role to fit the team. He'll fit in perfectly bringing Star and KK along if he knows he can help there as well as on the field.

 

One more year to challenge the greatest. One more year to make a difference and hopefully be a part of something great. Best of luck to him.

[OneBadCat]

If he's healthy he'll be the perfect spell to Star. Shouldn't have a significant drop off with the rotation.

[pantherclaw]

His perspective on things will have a very positive effect on our young DTs.

Looking forward to seeing him be a big part of our defensive rotation, and hopefully, defensive dominance.

[frash.exe]

just a reminder that Cole has been a part of Seattle's DL rotation and they've been known for the past few years to have productive DTs

[FattyFatFat]

I really think he will contribute this year. Such a great big body to suck up two offensive linemen.