Former WPIAL football stars playing waiting game in hopes of being selected in USFL Draft
T.J. Neal has taken a circuitous route in chasing his dreams of playing professional football, going from major-college programs to living in hotels as he bounced around indoor and spring leagues.
The 28-year-old McKeesport native has toiled in obscurity while watching his former teammates at Illinois and Auburn shine in the NFL, heeding their words of encouragement that he belongs on a bigger stage.
Neal played for the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Storm as they won the Indoor Football League’s United Bowl in 2019, signed with the CFL before its season was canceled by covid-19 in 2020 and starred at inside linebacker for The Spring League’s Linemen as they won the Mega Bowl last year.
“It’s been a long journey,” Neal said. “I always had a dream of playing football. I knew I had the ability. If I didn’t think I could do this, I wouldn’t train this hard, wouldn’t work out five days a week. I’m good enough. It’s just a matter of getting the opportunity to prove myself.”
The return of the USFL is providing hope for several prospects with WPIAL ties, as Neal is joined by former Clairton wide receiver Aaron Mathews and Thomas Jefferson inside linebacker Zane Zandier among the 400-500 players who signed contracts to be included in the pool for the league’s draft that will be split between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Neal, who has a master’s degree in adult education, works as a behavioral specialist for Kiski Area by day and trains at Legends of Pittsburgh fitness center in Tarentum at night.
Neal had 245 career tackles and was an All-Big Ten honorable mention as a junior in 2015. When Illinois fired Tim Beckman, Neal went to Auburn as a graduate transfer — only to find himself serving as a backup and what he calls an “insurance plan.” Although Neal plays at the same size (6-foot-1, 235 pounds) he did in college, he now adheres to a vegan diet that he believes has helped him become leaner and more explosive.
“I’m a different athlete,” Neal said. “I can jump higher, run faster. The athlete I want the NFL to see, they haven’t seen yet. That’s why the USFL would be so great of an opportunity.”
The USFL will conduct its draft in an analytic modified snake system with 35 position-based rounds that will provide each of the eight teams, including the reincarnation of the Pittsburgh Maulers, two No. 1 picks at two positions. The draft starts Tuesday night with quarterbacks in Round 1, followed by edge rushers, offensive tackles and cornerbacks.
Only players who have signed contracts with the USFL are eligible for the draft, and Neal, Mathews and Zandier will have to wait until Wednesday to find out whether they have been selected. Wide receivers will be chosen in rounds 13-17 and inside linebackers in the 21st round. There will be a 10-round supplemental draft March 10. The 10-game USFL season starts April 16, with all games being played in Birmingham, Ala., and the championship game in Canton, Ohio.
All three former WPIAL stars are accustomed to having their patience tested, given that none were selected in the NFL Draft and their shots at playing in the league either were brief or nonexistent.
Neal was invited to rookie minicamps with the Steelers, who signed Pitt’s Matt Galambos instead, and Arizona Cardinals but couldn’t stick with either team. The 6-3, 232-pound Zandier, who registered 252 tackles, including 25 for losses, and 9 ½ sacks at Virginia, went to rookie minicamp with the Philadelphia Eagles but never got a call back.
“Going through the NFL season and not getting any calls was tough,” Zandier said, “but as soon as I heard the USFL I set my sights on that and started getting ready for that.”
Best known for throwing a fourth-and-goal touchdown pass to quarterback Kenny Pickett in the final minute to beat UCF, 35-34, in 2019 — a play known as the Pitt Special — Mathews never received an invitation to an NFL camp and hasn’t played since Pitt’s Quick Lane Bowl game against Eastern Michigan.
A 6-5, 225-pound wide receiver, Mathews had 44 catches for 580 yards and a touchdown at Pitt, where he developed a reputation as a strong blocker and special teams star. He also blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown in the win over UCF, which ended the Knights’ 27-game regular-season winning streak.
Mathews has watched former Pitt teammates like Damar Hamlin, Dane Jackson, Avonte Maddox and Jordan Whitehead play in the NFL. His childhood neighbor and teammate at Clairton, Tyler Boyd of the Cincinnati Bengals, played in Super Bowl LVI.
“It was hard,” said Mathews, 24. “Seeing my brothers get drafted helped a little but as time went on I thought I was going to at least get into one of those other leagues. Nothing happened. It was a waiting game.
“Give me a helmet and I’ll show people what I got. All that other noise is for the birds. Last time I actually played was that bowl game against Eastern Michigan. That was so long ago. I’m just ready to play ball again. This league just brought a wave of excitement.”
Where Neal is teaching, Mathews is working toward getting his commercial driver’s license and Zandier is running cable lines as they continue to chase their pro football aspirations. The thought of playing in the USFL has served as a newfound motivation for all three.
“It’s kind of crazy how everything is still a work in progress,” said Zandier, 22. “They’ve got the uniforms out. They have the teams and coaches in place. It seems like things are falling into place as it’s going on. It’s exciting. I don’t know how it’s going to go but to be a part of it is pretty cool. I feel like I have a lot of ball left in me. I want to continue playing football, keep pursuing it until I can’t play anymore.”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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