Once the NFL draft ended Saturday afternoon, Jeff Overbaugh's pro football career began to take shape.
The Service High graduate received a call from the Los Angeles Rams shortly after the final round of the draft, and by dinnertime he was celebrating an offer to join the Rams later this week.
"As of right now I'm headed down to L.A. this coming Thursday to sign the contract and begin rookie camp," Overbaugh said.
Overbaugh is a long snapper who enjoyed a stellar four-year career at San Diego State, and he said he knew his chance to make a deal with an NFL team would come after the draft wrapped up.
"As a long snapper, not many of us are drafted," he said, "so mostly the expectation was to become an undrafted free agent."
And sure enough, not long after the Tennessee Titans picked this year's Mr. Irrelevant — the name traditionally bestowed on the final player chosen in the draft — Overbaugh became relevant.
His phone rang and the caller ID said it was John Fassel, the special-teams coach for the Rams.
"At first I was just answering the phone — I didn't want to jump to any conclusions," Overbaugh said. "And he kind of gave me the news from there. I'm tremendously honored and excited."
A while later, his phone rang again. It was the Seattle Seahawks calling with an invitation to a mini-camp tryout. But Overbaugh had already agreed to a deal with the Rams, who made the better offer.
Overbaugh ended his college career as one of the college football's top long snappers. He appeared in all 53 games since the 2012 season at San Diego State, where he had a perfect senior season: He was 134 for 134 in PATs, 55 for 55 in field goal attempts and 164 for 164 in punts. He added two tackles and a fumble recovery to help the Aztecs to a 11-3 record.
He excelled in the classroom too. He earned a degree in psychology in three years at San Diego State and spent the 2015-16 school year working on a masters degree. He was recently named to the National Football Foundation's Hampshire Honor Society.
At the Senior Bowl in January, Overbaugh impressed during practices and the game, catching the eye of several teams, including the Rams. With his bachelors degree already in hand, he spent much of this spring working out for NFL teams. He attended a three-day combine for special-teams players in Phoenix and went through workouts at San Diego State for the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers.
Overbaugh returned to Anchorage about a week ago. During the three days of the draft, which began Thursday night, he and his family spent time with friends, knowing if there was going to be any news, it would likely come after the draft ended Saturday.
"That was absolutely the hope coming into today, but it's a business, and there's no guarantees," Overbaugh said. "I was ready for anything."
There are still no guarantees. Overbaugh will be one of 90 players on the Los Angeles roster when preseason camps begin, but in order to earn the $450,000 rookie salary, he needs to make the 53-man final roster. Most NFL teams have only one long snapper.
No Alaskans are currently on contract with an NFL team. Cornerback Zach Bowman of Bartlett High played for the Miami Dolphins for most of last season but was released at the end of November.
If Overbaugh makes the final roster for the Rams, he'll be a part of Los Angeles history. The Rams played in Southern California from 1946 to 1994, when the franchise moved to St. Louis. After an absence of more than 20 years, the NFL, and the Rams, will return Los Angeles for the 2016 season.
"It'll be definitely nice to stay on the West Coast,"? Overbaugh said. "I'll be as close to home as possible with that Alaska Airlines direct flight to Anchorage. Maybe that'll be my first endorsement."