Bryan London II was a little despondent Saturday night.
The Texas State linebacker’s name wasn’t called during the 2020 NFL Draft. His phone wasn’t ringing off the hook immediately after with teams rushing to sign him as an undrafted free agent. It wasn’t ringing at all.
London holds both the Texas State and Sun Belt all-time records with 460 career tackles -- a number that also ranks in the top-20 all-time among all NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision players. But maybe those accolades weren’t enough to get him a shot in the pros.
“To be completely honest, I let a little defeat slip in, just because I was expecting some news,” London said. “That's just like kind of what the pre-draft conversations with several teams were like. So just to have the draft end and my phone to go silent, I just felt pretty defeated, momentarily.”
The Converse native’s gloom didn’t last long, though. His support system did its job, lifting London out of his low spirits.
“(It was) just basically friends and family, everyone's just reaching out to me, you know, sharing scriptures and just advice to me, just letting me know how much they believe in me, love me and to know that God didn't bring me this far just to bring me,” London said.
Then the Los Angeles Rams called Monday morning. The team’s front office wanted to know if London had signed anywhere yet. He said he hadn’t.
“The next day they offered me a contract,” London said. “It was a pretty quick process, actually. It was exciting.”
London agreed to the deal and announced his decision on Twitter Tuesday afternoon. At the moment, all NFL facilities are shutdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. His first few meetings with the Rams will have to take place via teleconference.
But as soon as it’s safer to travel, he’ll be on his first flight to Los Angeles for a shot to play at the highest level. It’s all he could really ask for.
“Playing college football was a dream,” London said. “So playing in the NFL should just give the opportunity to wear an NFL logo on the helmet. Like, that's just a blessing to me. So that's probably what I'm most excited about.”
