Training camps across the NFL begin this week, and it is an opportunity for unsung heroes to show their stuff and earn a spot on their teams’ final 53-man roster.
As always, there will be a number of no-name players who will be reporting to camp for every team, and the Cleveland Browns are no exception.
Here are just three players many fans may have never heard of who will have a shot at making the Browns’ final roster towards the end of this summer.
Parnell Motley
Motley, a native of Washington, D.C., is a cornerback who stands six feet tall and weighs 180 pounds.
He played four seasons of college ball at the University of Oklahoma, where he finished with 176 tackles (130 solo), 33 passes defended and six interceptions, one of which he took back for a touchdown, in 45 contests.
The #49ers newest CB, Parnell Motley 👀 pic.twitter.com/mbwOmTnRj6
— SFN✌️ (@TheSFNiners_) October 13, 2020
He wasn’t selected in the 2020 NFL Draft, and he was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent about a month later.
Motley has been with four teams prior to the Browns picking him up in May: the Bucs, San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions, mostly as a practice squad player.
In his two NFL seasons, he has appeared in a grand total of five contests, recording eight tackles (five solo), one pass defended and one fumble recovery.
Nakia Griffin-Stewart
Griffin-Stewart is a tight end who barely played last season as a rookie with the Kansas City Chiefs.
In two contests, he didn’t record any stats while getting in just three snaps.
He started out his college career at Rutgers University but finished it at the University of Pittsburgh.
My goodness, what a catch from Nakia Griffin-Stewart. pic.twitter.com/P37gEm4azD
— Brian Fonseca (@briannnnf) October 21, 2017
At both schools, Griffin-Stewart put up minimal numbers, and he wasn’t selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.
He spent time on the practice squads of three different teams before the Chiefs made him an actual player.
After the departure of Austin Hooper, the Browns need players to step up at the tight end position, and David Njoku won’t be the only one who will need to pick up the slack.
Griffin-Stewart has good size for the position at 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, and although he has the skills to make it in the NFL, his consistency and focus have been lacking.
Cleveland signed him in late May, and he will have a chance to prove he belongs in the pros.
Luther Kirk
Kirk is a free safety who played four seasons of college ball at Illinois State University, recording 61 tackles and five interceptions as a junior, leading the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) in the latter category.
The following year, he had 89 tackles and earned multiple All-American honors.
Kirk went undrafted in 2020, and he spent time with the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons the past two seasons, mostly on their practice squads.
He has only appeared in one contest so far, which came in 2021, and he only took part in five snaps on special teams, putting up no stats.
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