Tobais Palmer graduated from Northwood in 2008. He played football at NC State and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Jacksonville Jaguars this season. He played in his first professional football game Sept. 30. Palmer spoke with Omniscient reporter Jack Teague to discuss life in the NFL. After this interview was conducted, Palmer was cut Oct. 8.
Q: When you were at Northwood, did you ever imagine that you’d be playing in the NFL?
A: “To be honest with you, I never imagined that I’d be able to go to college and play football. You know, whenever I was in college I felt like I was just doing enough to graduate. … It feels more like a dream come true. I just started living my dream even more.”
Q: When you were at Northwood and NC State, how did playing there help you, if at all? What did it do to prepare you for the NFL?
A: “…. Mentally, it comes from the playbook itself. … When you get to college you have a… more challenging version of the playbook. Then when it gets to the NFL, it’s hard. Most guys [are expected] to come in and learn an NFL playbook in a couple of weeks at the least and it’s hard. But I felt like actually experiencing those years from high school to college and now the NFL has prepared me a lot. Now I’m just hoping that something happens here for me and I hope that it happens for the best.
Q: What is the biggest difference between professional football and college football and high school football? Is it just the playbook?
A: “It’s not just the playbook. You have guys that are bigger, faster, stronger, and I mean it goes around. The difference between the NFL and college is that the NFL is your job. It’s what you do for your living and at the end of the day, if you don’t perform, then it may be the next day or the following week that you don’t have a job. So that’s the biggest difference in that you’re getting paid to play the game that you love to play. But that also means that you have to put in work to get where you want to be and to be successful.”
Q: I know that you went undrafted originally, but what made you keep looking for a team to play with?
A: “The thing for me was that I was determined. You can never give up on your dreams and never let anyone say that you can’t do something. That’s been my motivation ever since I left Northwood. When I was at Northwood, I used to have people tell me that they didn’t think I could play running back or play a certain position because I was small. Well, I proved them wrong… and whenever I did get my opportunity and my chance to play, I exceeded in it. I took it to the next level and that’s the same thing I did through college and it got me to where I am now. I have a strong motor and I just try to keep pushing whenever I hear negative things when people tell me that I can’t do something. So I just take that as motivation and go on.”
Q: How did you originally find out that you made the team?
A: “The way the process works in the NFL is that the day of the draft, you don’t get drafted, you get numerous teams from the organizations calling you. The good thing about the undrafted process is that you can choose which team you want to go out and play for. I felt like the Jaguars, by them being at the bottom of the NFL right now, needed the most help. I came here, and now since I’ve been here, I’m just trying to fit in and trying to get them to see why they should have drafted me and give them a reason to choose me to keep playing here. That’s my goal as of right now and I feel like I’ve worked toward that, but at the same time it’s a work in progress.”
Q: What have you learned watching guys like [fellow Jaguars wide receivers] Cecil Shorts and Justin Blackmon play and practice? What impression have they left on you?
A: “The motivation that they have, what keeps them going, the way the speed of the game should be played, the way routes should be run, and just learning technique. Your craft is the biggest thing in the NFL that you would like to work on because at the end of the day that’s what they invested in you. They invested in you and pay you all types of money to come out there and perform at your best, at the highest level and to make plays. Cecil has been a big help in my life and ever since I’ve been here he’s taken me under his wing and guided me through things to do and what not to do. When Blackmon came into the picture and came back [from his suspension], he’s also been doing the same things. Both of those guys, they’re real positive people that I’m fortunate enough that I have met. I’m glad that I actually got to meet them, they’ve been a real positive aspect of my life.”
Q: In the preseason you had a couple of fumbles. What did you take away from those?
A: “Those two punt returns, that will be one of the memories that I will never forget. I’d never done a punt return a day in my life until those particular two games. I guess the organization just wanted to throw me under some pressure and see how I could handle it. The things that I took from those is that I should focus and concentrate on the ball, catching the ball first, and then being able to run and make plays with it, after the ball is secured. As a rookie that’s a big thing because you come in and you’re trying to prove and do so much to show the organization that you want to be here and that they should put you on their 53-man roster. That’s a lot of pressure on us, and we don’t know what we’re in for… At the end of the day, those are the things that I took from it and ever since then I’ve been trying to deal with the positive things on top of it.”