Abiola Aborishade
 

Abiola Aborishade is currently busy with two-a-days. He would like to do so on the field, but for now, he puts in his work off the field.

Since April 21, Aborishade has been showing up at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough around 5:45 a.m. every weekday. He arms himself with a poster board, displaying such terms as "talented," "hardworking" and "won't disappoint." Around 7 a.m., he darts over to Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Norwood, seven miles away, for his day job. When his shift ends at 1 p.m., Aborishade returns to the Patriots' facilities to continue his campaign.

Aborishade simply wants a tryout with his local team. The coaches have mostly ignored him for a month. In a recent interview with MassLive, Aborishade points out Belichick arriving at the facility, as the coach carries on like Aborishade has not been camping outside the stadium for over a month.

Aborishade played wide receiver at Division III UMass-Dartmouth. In 2014, he set the school record for receptions in a season with 84. He persuaded Brown University coaches to include him in their Pro Day, but no NFL teams offered free agent contracts.

"There are a lot of talented people out there who haven't been discovered yet, and that's because they haven't separated themselves from everyone else," Aborishade told MassLive. "You have to put yourself out there — literally put yourself out there."

Aborishade was inspired by Joe Anderson, a former NFL wide receiver, who, while unemployed in 2015, began a similar poster board campaign outside of Houston's NRG Stadium. The Texarkana, Texas, native was signed to the Jets' practice squad soon after.

Likewise, Shiloh Keo tweeted at Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips during his free agency (he previously played for Phillips with the Texans). Phillips responded and later, the Broncos picked up Keo. He recovered the game-clinching onside kick in the AFC Championship Game and won a Super Bowl ring.


Aborishade is a different case, as he has never even been on the NFL's radar. But he does believe he has NFL-level skills.

Aborishade is against making excuses, but he has an argument for why his potential has been masked. During his senior year at Attleboro High School, the team ran the ball 75.5 percent of offensive plays. On top of that, when Aborishade and his mother immigrated from Nigeria during his childhood, Aborishade scored so high in a placement test, he skipped fourth grade. He was just 16 years old and 170 pounds during his senior year of high school.

Aborishade did not play football during his first two years of high school -- when he hit his growth spurt -- but joined the team in his third year of college. He added an extra semester of classes just to play a third season. With his political science degree intact and student loans to pay off, Aborishade made his first true adult decision, opting not to pay to come back for a fourth season.

In the real world, Aborishade's NFL dream would not die. Sure, he hasn't taken the orthodox path, but all he wants is one shot. He thinks he has an NFL skillset -- at wide receiver and special teams -- and until someone proves to him otherwise, Aborishade will keep trying to court New England into opening its doors to him.

Some players have recognized Aborishade's drive. He says Matthew Slater and James Develin give him a wave when they drive past, and Jordan Richards, Rob Ninkovich and Malcolm Butler have all exchanged words with Aborishade. Butler even took Aborishade's story to Facebook.

The only barrier left to break is Belichick, who is no stranger to overlooked talent. And taking on Aborishade could maybe inflate some of the Patriots' reeling reputation.

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