Will Compton has been defying odds since he left the Nebraska football team and went to the NFL.
He was an undrafted free-agent when he was signed by the Washington Redskins. In 2013, he worked his way from scout squad to the active roster. Even then he managed to get in just one game in his rookie season.
It was his second year in the league that Compton really showed what he could do. That year he played in every single game for the Redskins, and started several. Overall, he recorded 60 total tackles, and actually forced two safeties.
Last year is when Compton truly showed what he was capable of doing. Now considered the “quarterback of the defense,” he again played in all 16 games and this time recorded 96 total tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception he returned for 24 yards.
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Gone are the days when he’s scrapping and clawing just to prove he belongs on the roster. “There were some days my first year I was very down in the dumps on myself or on the situation,” Compton recently told the Omaha World-Herald. “You just want an opportunity. It’s the biggest uphill climb ever. I mean, you start at the bottom at fourth string, not even on special teams sometimes. You have very few and limited reps and chances to show your stuff.”
Compton’s patience has paid off, and he’s starting to be considered one of the best defenders in the NFL. He’s not the only former Nebraska football player who has made quite the name for himself as a linebacker in the league.
Lavonte David, one of the best linebackers to play for Nebraska in the last few decades, had a slightly different path. He was drafted in the second round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has been one of the best backers in the NFL since. His rookie year, one year before Compton joined the league, he recorded an impressive 139 combined tackles and assists. The next year, he recorded 145, then 146 (in just 14 games) and last year 147.
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While Lavonte David and Will Compton have taken different roads, they’re laying a bit of groundwork for Nebraska to be known for top notch NFL linebackers.