Rico Gafford has always dreamed of reaching the NFL.
"We all start these goals as young children, everything like that, looking up to other guys that are in the Hall of Fame now," said Gafford, a former Wyoming cornerback.
Saturday afternoon, Gafford's dream came true when he was offered an undrafted free agent contract by the Tennessee Titans.
"Looking back at when I made this a goal for me, and finally getting that call from an NFL team telling me that they wanted me to sign a contract with them and everything like that," Gafford said, "it changed my life completely."
Gafford spent two seasons at Wyoming as a transfer from Iowa Western Community College. As a senior, he earned second-team all-Mountain West honors as he intercepted four passes, returning one for a touchdown. His offseason ramped up with an appearance at the NFLPA Bowl in January in Pasadena, California. Then, at Wyoming's Pro Day in March, he turned heads with a pair of 40-yard dashes timed in the 4.2-second range. According to NFLDraftScout's Dane Brugler, Gafford's 4.22-second 40 was the fastest of any player at a 2018 Pro Day.
"The days after, I obviously got a huge buzz on Twitter and everything from a bunch of people, because no one ran that time yet, and no one ran that time at the (NFL Combine earlier that month)," Gafford said. "People were pretty much like, 'It doesn't matter, because he didn't run at the Combine.'
"... I was just happy with myself, just to be able to be the fastest guy in the draft coming out of Wyoming, and I'm a Iowa guy, so people don't see guys from Iowa really doing much and stuff like that. I like to pretty much just put on for my city and put on for the teams that I played for."
The Titans were impressed by Gafford. In fact, they had interest in him months before Wyoming's Pro Day. Gafford first talked with the Titans at the NFLPA Bowl.
"One of their scouts, Dale Thompson, had noticed me the first couple days I was playing nickel, and I got the (chance) to spend some time with him," Gafford said. "He told me he liked what I did at nickel, and we just kept in touch from there."
Thompson then approached Gafford at Wyoming's Pro Day.
"I've kept a somewhat close relationship to him throughout this process," Gafford said, "and then I'd say either last week or two weeks ago maybe, the DB coach (Kerry Coombs) gave me a shout. He called me. He told me he likes my film and he likes me as a player, and he saw that I was also fast.
"He coached at Ohio State, so he coached Marshon Lattimore and Denzel Ward, who were both taken in the first round. Denzel was also someone who was fast, and he has experience with fast guys. So he pretty much just told me he likes me a lot. He wants me to come out there. He wants to coach me, and having him tell me that stuff with the experience he's been through, that obviously made me feel great about myself."
The Titans only made four selections in last weekend's NFL Draft. Because they didn't have many picks to spare, they asked Gafford if he would be willing to sign as a priority free agent. He said that first he wanted to see the draft process through.
Gafford also had talks with San Francisco, Arizona and Indianapolis. But his name wasn't called in the seven-round draft — no Wyoming player's was, besides quarterback Josh Allen, who was drafted seventh overall. So, shortly after the draft ended, Gafford became a Titan.
"I'm ready to get up there and be on the Titans' campus and finally be a Titan," Gafford said, "and I'm ready to compete for a spot and to make the 53 (man roster). Nothing's set in stone yet, so right now I'm just going to go about everything the way I go about everything and compete and make plays and do what I can to make the team and show that I am a guy that can help them in the future, I am a guy that can make major impacts, and I am a guy that wants to win games.
"I'm very, very, very happy with myself, like I said, and I've gone through a lot to get to this position. Having another setback with being an undrafted guy is pretty much nothing to me. It is what it is, because I've gone through so much to where it's OK. I'm good. Just take the next step."
Gafford said the team, which has a first-year head coach in Mike Vrabel, believes he can earn the job of backup nickel back.
"I need just a little bit more work," Gafford said. "I obviously need to learn nickel, because I didn't play nickel in college, but from what I did at the NFLPA Bowl, they felt confident to take a chance on me at the nickel spot."
Gafford's agent said he was "probably the highest end" priority free agent Tennessee signed, in terms of signing bonuses.
"I never was a guy that had lots of offers, anything like that," Gafford said. "So just having a team that wants for you to come in and make an impact instantly like that and to give you a certain amount of money — or just to give you money in general, it's not every day that someone gets picked up by NFL teams.
"So I am very happy with myself and very happy with the Titans for taking a chance on me. When it comes down to it, I will lay my life on the line for them."
