Summerlin native took unusual path to the NFL

By Christopher Drexel

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008 | 5:25 p.m.

Gerard Lawson shouldn't be playing in the NFL. At least that is what the experts thought.

Lawson, a 2003 Palo Verde graduate, didn't appear in NFL mock drafts last spring. And he wasn't selected during pro football's annual dispersing of college players in April.

In fact, Lawson didn't even start a game as a junior or senior at Oregon State. But he never gave up hope of playing in the NFL. He was confident his skills as a special teams player were enough to earn him a roster spot.

Today, with the NFL regular season underway, Lawson is part of the Cleveland Browns.

"I still have a hard time believing I'm in the NFL," Lawson said. "I'm in awe, and it hasn't come to my senses yet that my work is football.

"The road I had to take to get here makes it that much more special. For me to make it the way I did — never starting in college except four games when I was a sophomore. I had to come in here and really impress the coaches."

When Lawson wasn't drafted, he wanted to sign with a team that was looking for special teams players. His agent recommended Cleveland and Lawson stuck with the Browns for a pair of preseason games.

He was then invited to a third game. All the while, he saw teammates being sent home on a regular basis.

"They were really cutting guys like it was nothing," he said. "If you didn't make an impression, you would get cut. Every day I was losing sleep over it because it was like you don't know what will happen tomorrow. Seeing how some people reacted after getting cut, I didn't want to go through that feeling. Some guys were just devastated."

But Lawson remained positive.

He played on nearly every special team — kickoff and punt return and coverage — since he was a freshman at Oregon State and figured he could be a difference maker for the Browns in the same capacity.

Finally, the Browns signed him to a one-year deal shortly before they team opened against the Dallas Cowboys Sept. 6. He is receiving the league minimum of $285,000.

"Coaches did a lot in telling me what I could do better to make this team," Lawson said. "I knew I could get cut at any time. But I took everything they told me and when I had the opportunity, I made plays. Before the season started I had my mind made up I'd make the team. That's why I'm still here."

One of the first people Lawson called when he made the team was Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost, who has kept in contact with Lawson since he left Summerlin.

Rost said Lawson has a chance at longevity in the NFL.

"Nowadays you can make the NFL on special teams because a lot of those big names don't want to play special teams anymore," Rost said. "Gerard wasn't a star at OSU, but he did what he had to do. He hustles all over the field. And coaches like coaching him. He'll do anything they ask him to do.

"It's not every day you get a guy that is playing in the NFL — it's only taken me 25 years of coaching."

Through two games, Lawson has played on every special team for the Browns and has returned two kickoffs for 29 yards while filling in for typical Cleveland return man, Josh Cribbs.

When Cribbs returns, Lawson knows he will be blocking, but that doesn't matter to him. He said he'll do whatever it takes to remain in the league.

"On special teams, you only get one down to do it and you have to be able to execute at 100 miles per hour," Lawson said. "Special teams is all effort. The more effort you give, the better off you'll be. If you know what you're doing the one time you're out there, you'll have much better chance of being a player."

Christopher Drexel can be reached at 990-8929 or [email protected].