“Do your thang.”
“Eyes on the prize, big boy.”
Vallery, a native of South Solon and a two-time NCAA Division III All-American defensive end at Wittenberg, knows he’s not going to get drafted. The list of D-III players to make the NFL is a short one, but getting the chance to show his skills in front of NFL scouts could lead to other opportunities. He could get a tryout with an NFL team and then maybe get signed to a practice squad, or he could end up in the Canadian Football League. You never know.
“If it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be,” said Vallery, a Madison Plains High School graduate, “but you can’t sit back and say, ‘I had a chance and never did anything about it.’ ”
After his Wittenberg career ended last fall, Vallery got a call from an agent in San Diego named Jason Silver. Unbeknownst to Vallery, Silver had been following his career since the end of Vallery’s junior season, when he was named D3Football.com’s Defensive Player of the Year. Silver was looking for under-the-radar players like Vallery.
Vallery then started working out four days a week at D1 Sports Training in Columbus, a facility co-owned by former Buckeyes Mike Vrabel and A.J. Hawk. Vallery has been getting stronger and faster in preparation for doing all the drills the players at the NFL combine do: the 40-yard dash, the 225-pound bench press, the vertical jump, the broad jump, the shuttle run, etc. Vallery was going to perform at the University of Akron’s pro day, but through D1 Sports’ connections, he got switched to OSU’s.
The 6-foot-2 Vallery is up to 245 pounds. The most he weighed at Wittenberg was 235. He said if he gets an opportunity at the next level, it would be at outside linebacker.
“It’s every kid’s childhood dream to be able to play in the NFL or to even play after college somehow,” Vallery said. “It’s starting to become a reality for me. The support that’s come my way (from friends and family) has been phenomenal. It’s really nice to know people are pulling for you. I don’t want to let them down, but in the same breath, I know they won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t work out.”
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