Packers washout now starts for Colts in Super Bowl. Andrew Brandt
There’s a great story in the Super Bowl that flies way under the radar created by megastars Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Dwight Freeney, Reggie Bush and many others. It’s about a guy I almost wouldn’t allow the Packers to sign in 2007 because the signing bonus seemed too big for someone who wasn’t drafted. That player was Colts defensive tackle Daniel Muir.
The hour or two following the NFL Draft is bedlam in war rooms around the NFL. It’s within these key moments that careers can be made or broken, often in split-second decisions. Teams are combing through players who were not drafted to fill out their rosters.
No matter what the team, it’s chaos, as scouts and coaches lobby the negotiators to sign their favorites, and the negotiators try to keep the agents on the line rather than taking calls from other teams. At the end of the day, it’s always about the money, and the largest signing bonus usually wins.
In the moments after the 2007 draft, I remember hearing about Muir, a defensive tackle from Kent State, whom a couple of our scouts were raving about. As I was trying to keep our spending down -- since it was unlikely any of these players would make the team -- the price of Muir’s bonus kept going up. Although a miniscule amount in relative standards, Muir – against my judgment -- received a team-high $15,000 bonus, one of the highest bonuses we had ever given to one of these undrafted free agents.
Muir arrived with the other group of undrafted free agents we signed in 2007 – Ryan Powdrell of USC, linebacker Juwan Simpson of Alabama, Rory Johnson of Mississippi and Larry Birdine of Oklahoma. Although I thought we had overpaid to get Muir, I had a soft spot for him because he was a native of my hometown of Washington, D.C.
Although we had an unusually large number of defensive linemen on the team (11), Muir beat the odds and made the Packers in 2007. He played in three games in 2007 and stayed with the team through the 2008 offseason to the final cuts, where he was placed on waivers after the last preseason game.
Muir was claimed on waivers by the Colts, the only Packer cut that day to get claimed. In 2008, he played 100 snaps and continued to be one of the hundreds of players around the NFL living on the thin edge of being unemployed.
What happened to Muir next is what has happened to hundreds of NFL players -- including Tom Brady and Kurt Warner -- and will happen every year to hundreds more. He seized an opportunity and he stepped up. The Colts – who obviously saw something in Muir that the Packers and other teams didn’t – released starting defensive tackle Ed Johnson in October. Muir took advantage.
Despite not starting full time, Muir is one of the team leaders in tackles, with 78. He was in the right place at the right time, and now he’s starting for the team that’s favored to win the Super Bowl.
The story of Daniel Muir is one that should resonate with every player in and out of the NFL. Except for a handful of superstars and true blue-rated players, only slim layers separate most of the talent level in the NFL. In the words of NFL scouts, many players fit in the category of “just a guy.” However, “just a guy” can become a lot more than that simply by the explosive combination of opportunity and preparation.
Muir, although a coveted player in the chaos of undrafted free agents, was buried on the Green Bay depth chart behind other heavily built defensive tackles such as Cullen Jenkins, Ryan Pickett, Johnny Jolly and Colin Cole. He rarely played; he was just there for insurance, and when the team needed a roster spot, he was gone. Most of those players wash out from there. However, Bill Polian saw something. Muir was claimed, and opportunity knocked.
Now finishing his third season playing for minimum salary ($460,000), Muir lines up between Dwight Freeney (contract of $72 million, with $30 million guaranteed) and Robert Mathis ($30M, $12M guaranteed). This is a common look for the Colts, who are known for mixing in high-priced talent with minimum contract players throughout their team, a high/low way they have been balancing their cap for years.
Muir will certainly get a big raise as a restricted free agent this offseason and may even draw an offer sheet from a team hungry for a run-stopper. And anyone could have had him for the $15,000 I tried to not pay him.
Good for Daniel.
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Good job getting some attention for Dan Muir. He was a bit overweight to play the way the Colts prefer last year and came into training camp with an uphill battle against a talented veteran in Ed Johnson, a 2nd round draft pick in Fili Moala, a 4th round draft pick in Terrance Taylor, and the undrafted free agent Adrian Grady. He was considered less likely to make the team than some guys who weren't built to play the position but had given great effort in 2008, like Eric Foster and Key Dawson. But as soon as camp started, word got out that Muir was consistently turning heads, and it wasn't long before the pressure to show up moved to Eric Foster, Adrian Grady, and Taylor.
He's made some timely plays and seems to have some of the intangibles that are hard to find in 300-pound linemen, so if he can figure out a way to coexist with Fili Moala on the field at the same time over the next few years, the Colts' DT situation could prove to be much more consistent than it has been for the last decade or so.
great stuff....stories like these is why I like the NFP
Good piece. There aren't too many NFL and ex-NFL people writing things like this. There's far more "I drafted this guy! Look at how smart I was!", and "Everyone said I was crazy, but I showed 'em!" pieces out there. It takes an impressive lack of ego to write that you didn't think all that much of the guy, but he proved you wrong.
bigrich,
What you are praising is not a lack of ego, Mr Brandt isn't a wishy washy twit. It's the self assurance/confidence to be willing to admit a blown accessment that's admirable.
Thanks NFP for being such an informative web site. If this would become a "pay for view" site I would still subscribe.
Andrew:
The only thing I don't agree with is that the Packers "Didn't see anything in Muir".
Obviously they did. They made you cough up that big 15 G's and he made the team. At the end of the roster it's always a this for that decision on final cut day.
I guarantee you that Thompson would have liked to keep the kid, but kept another talented kid instead in the hard cutdown to 53. Poulian is one of the Top 5 talent evaluators in the league and had kept tabs on Muir. Thin on the Dline no more.
Sammy, you said:
"What you are praising is not a lack of ego, Mr Brandt isn't a wishy washy twit. It's the self assurance/confidence to be willing to admit a blown accessment that's admirable."
I think we're talking about the same thing, but calling it by two different names. Having no ego doesn't make you wishy-washy. Quite the opposite - you have to be very self-confident in order to have no ego. People with big egos are the ones who can never admit they made mistakes. Their egos can't take the hit, so the only way they can get out of bed in the morning is to go on believing every decision they have ever made was correct, or the mistake was caused by other people. Confident people (like Mr Brandt here) can admit their mistakes, learn from them, and not make them again. My boss could learn from this...
I'm very happy to see him playing & to be on a SB bound team. I was hoping GB would've kept him, I kept my eye on him in pre season & I thought he played well enough to stick. Especially with Justin Harrell not making progress w/his back injury.
Speaking of....I wonder if he's found a dr. to help his back injury? I basically have the same injury Harrell has & I hurt it lifting weights too, 2003. I don't see Harrell playing another down in the NFL. I can't even work anymore.
/Sorry about my little tangent.
This is a good example of how many players get screwed by the draft-contract system now in place in the NFL in Muir's case he overcame it, and got lucky.
I think many of the so-called rookie busts in the NFL are simply because they don't fit the system they are drafted into. As much as the coaches devise the system and draft the players into it, sometimes they don't fit for a variety of reasons. Then they get the rap as being "too slow" etc. and it sticks with them around the league.
Many rookies don't come into their own until they've been in the league awhile. Many good players likely get washed out of the NFL because they system they are drafted into isn't the best one to suit their skills. After you are out of the game for a year or so, you are basically history to the NFL.
I think there's room for another football league, maybe in the spring. There's plenty of players around and the NFL off-season is too long.
None the less, a good story about Daniel Muir.
My recollections of Daniel Muir is that he had a fantastic training camp and preseason for the Packers in 2007, but was almost non-existent in 2008. Whatever the reason for his drop in play, he was looking like a player who was a one-preseason-wonder.
I am glad he has found success in Indianapolis.
Andrew:
Packer fan, here.
I remember in the preseason of 08, Muir looked to be a keeper, not based on measurables and combine results, the very things that caused him to go undrafted, but based on his heart. I vividly remember Muir getting blocked, losing his helmet, seeing the anger in possible defeat spread across his face which only fueled him to rise, once again, blow through a double-team and make the eventual tackle of the running back...for a loss. It may have been only preseason, but I was a fan of Daniel Muir at that point. He may be undersized, but not in his heart. and that has to be the case for an undrafted free agent..
In contrast, there is Justin Harrell, out-of-shape, bad back, on his 4th chance. A first round pick, Harrell has had all the excuses possible made for him. He still comes off as an immature kid, and he looks to be in the same soft shape as when he arrived. Football players are all just men, some naturally bigger and stronger, but in the end, the only ones that I have seen stick, talented or not, all have one thing: heart.
Good for Daniel Muir, from all that I have read about this young man how hard he works, I know that he would make it. He is not only talanted but, a motivator to his team mates and a leader. This young man has a great gift, and he seems humble as well. May God continue to bless him in all that he do.
Good for Daniel Muir, from all that I have read about this young man how hard he works, I know that he would make it. He is not only talanted but, a motivator to his team mates and a leader. This young man has a great gift, and he seems humble as well. May God continue to bless him in all that he do.
Reggie wanted to be in HOUSTON and BREES wanted MIAMI.....so when they go on and on and on and on about their love for the SAINTS and the city of New Orleans, it sickening and should be pointed out!!!
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Feb 06, 2010
05:52 PM
Thanks for the great story, teams at the top MUST make finds such as Muir, to stay at the highest level. Free agency for superstars can only go so far. Develop players such as this, or acquire them for development, that is key to staying on top.
Was the smaller program keeping Muir's scouting profile low?