Former Laurel Resident Sees NFL Dream Fading

The NFL lockout has been a pain this summer for football fans who are hungry for any news regarding the most popular specator sport in this country.

But the legal stalemate has also made it very difficult on college players who finished their careers in 2010 and are trying to hook on with a pro team as non-drafted free agents.

That is especially true for former Laurel resident Darryl Jones, a high school standout at St. John's College High in Washington, D.C. and a former defensive back at Northeastern and Delaware of the Colonial Athletic Association.

Jones, a third-team all-CAA performer last fall for nationally-ranked Delaware, told Patch this week he was one of about nine players from the Blue Hens of Delaware who worked out for NFL scouts this past spring. That included Pat Devlin, considered one of the top quarterbacks at the Division I-AA level last year.

"There were about 11 or 13 teams there," said Jones, who added he talked with representatives of the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons after the workout in Newark, DE.

But his name was not called during the NFL draft a few weeks ago. He said the NFL lockout makes it difficult, or impossible, for free agents to land a gig.

"It is in Minnesota right now," he said Wednesday of labor negotiations between the owners and players. "I think it will be over in the next few days."

Jones played three seasons at Northeastern and was among the top tacklers on the team in 2009. But the school dropped its football program after that season.

So Jones transferred to Delaware and was eligible to play right away in 2010. He formed one of the top defensive backfields at the Division I-AA level and the Blue Hens advanced to the title game before losing, 20-19, to Eastern Washington in January in Texas.

Jones, who lived in Laurel while attending St. John's, said he plans to take classes at Northeastern starting in August and needs one semester to finish a degree in business management/economics. Jones is staying in Temple Hills this summer.

"I am going back to school but if someone calls (from the NFL) I will listen," said Jones, who had 88 tackles (fourth on the team) and three interceptions last year for Delaware.

In other Laurel football news, recent Laurel High graduate Zane Carroll told Patch on Wednesday that he plans to play this fall for Division II Bowie State University.

The quarterback said he has been working out at the school this summer.

"I have to learn the system. It depends on how I push myself" to determine if he could see time as a freshman, said Carroll.

Carroll played football and basktball for Laurel High and said he may also try and play basketball at Bowie State, depending on how he can handle the academic load.

Laurel High graduate Robert Balarbe, who played football last year at The Apprentice School in Virginia, said he is not sure if he will play there this season. Balarbe said he does plan to be a student at the southeast Virginia school this coming semester.

At St. Vincent Pallotti High, new varsity football coach Ben Thompson said Pat Courtemanche, who resigned as head coach after the 2010 season, has decided not to be a varsity assistant at the Laurel private school this season due to family committments and professional opportunities.

He said Courtemanche will continue as the head varsity baseball coach and faculty member at Pallotti.

Thompson, a 1993 graduate of Pallotti, said Brian Bayne will be the junior varsity football coach for the Panthers in 2011. He has been the coach at the GORC youth league in Anne Arundel County.

Pallotti varsity players have been working out three days a week this summer and will take part in seven-on-seven passing events with Athoton High of Columbia. Pallotti will attend a camp at Towson University on July 16.

Thompson said the Panthers should have several talented transfers when varsity practice begins Aug. 10. One of them is Trey Busick, a rising sophomore quarterback from Mount St. Joseph's in Baltimore.

Busick could push returning starter Raffi Correa at the quarterback post, Thompson said.