Former UM Player Awaits His Fate As NFL Draft Nears
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Hometown boy, Brandon Linder, is looking to make it to the NFL.
Brandon, a former University of Miami offensive lineman, loves the outdoors as much as he loves the football field.
With the NFL draft less than a month away, Brandon is getting ready for the opportunity of a lifetime.
Brandon at the annual draft will hear his name called—where he ends up is anybody's guess and, to be honest, Brandon just wants to play football.
"This something that--ever since I was a pee wee in football--this has been a dream of mine. Ever since high school and college, it started 'hey I can do something with this, I can make this my career and this is something that I want to do," said Linder.
Linder, who is expected to go anywhere from the third to the fifth round, spends hours a day preparing for his next big step. But despite his dedication to football, Brandon always finds time for his other passions; bow hunting, diving and fishing whenever he gets the chance to use his custom UM rod and reel.
"You know I work out five days a week, it's like seven in the morning to like noon, so like in the afternoon I can sneak out and get a little trip and even if I'm driving around here fishing the lakes, fishing for a peacock bass, that's something that satisfies me," Bradon said.
What the South Florida native can't escape from is the wait, the wait to see what the next chapter in his life holds.
Whether it's in Green Bay, Seattle, Kansas City, or maybe right here in Miami in his hometown with the Dolphins.
"I've been born and raised here, you know it would be something cool to be being a hometown kid, going to high school and college here, I think that would be awesome. But again, it's really not up to me and I'm grateful for any opportunity that I do get"
Whether it's dodging alligators in the everglades or avoiding sharks off the Bahamas, Brandon knows that those adventures will pale in comparison to the challenges he is about to face in the NFL.
"Now that I've transitioned about learning about the NFL and all that stuff, I feel like it's a big gap , that I can't wait to start learning all this new stuff that I would have to be learning"