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Poland’s Wollet invited to Saints minicamp
By Joe Scalzo
On Saturday night, at the end of one of the toughest days of his life, Poland’s Luke Wollet said a small prayer of thanks and decided it was time to prepare for life after football.
And so, around 9 p.m., after countless calls and texts from his friends and families (but none from NFL teams), he sent out this tweet:
“Time to start a new beginning, love my cities, thank my friends, teammates, family, and cherish the memories. I’ll be back #ThankYouAll”
“I thought it [football] was over, honestly,” said Wollet, a standout safety from Kent State. “They say you start getting free-agent calls about 20 minutes before the draft ends, but I just kind of sat there. Nothing rang. No phone calls. And I was just kind of bummed out. I kind of prepared myself for it [the end] and I know there’s more to life [than football], but I wanted to keep playing.
“So I thanked God for everything he’s given me, said it was a good run and went to bed.”
Then, on Sunday morning, as he got ready for his shift at “Twisted Meltz,” a sandwich shop in Kent, he got a text from his agent telling him he had an invitation to the New Orleans Saints’ rookie minicamp.
“I said, ‘Let’s do it,’” Wollet said. “That’s all I really wanted was a chance. I never really wonder ‘What if?’ but I kind of wanted to go out on my own terms. If I don’t make it now, it’s just because I wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t because I didn’t get an opportunity.”
Unlike priority free agents, who sign with teams immediately after the draft, Wollet will be competing with dozens of other tryouts during a three-day minicamp, all in hopes of securing a training camp contract. Two years ago, Canfield High graduate Sean Baker (a Ball State safety) attended one of those camps, becoming one of 13 players to earn a training camp contract out of the 75 invitees. Although Bake got released on the final cut-down day in late August, he eventually made the team’s practice squad and finished last season on the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad.
“[Houston Rockets guard] Jeremy Lin was, what, one day away from never playing again?” Wollet said. “There are so many good athletes out there who end up with good careers because they got a chance.”
Twisted Meltz’s sandwiches are named after famous Kent Staters, from the Drew Carey (buffalo chicken) to the Michael Keaton (shaved ribeye) to the Don King (angus beef).
Wollet’s boss promised he’d give Wollet his own sandwich if he makes it to the NFL, just like Antonio Gates (honey ham) or Josh Cribbs (fried turkey). A well-documented McDonald’s nut, Wollet said he’ll probably pick something similar to the McDouble cheeseburger.
He just has to make it first.
“I have three days and I’m just going to try to leave the best impression I can, so if they don’t like me, at least they’ll talk good about me to other teams,” he said. “I just want to keep taking these opportunities and running with them, because you only get so many.”