Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich may have been the best-known of all the NFL's undrafted free agents this year. One of the top defensive players in college football in 2008, he missed the 2009 season due to his fight with cancer and spent 2010 working his way back into his old form. After not being drafted in April, he sat through the lockout with the rest of the undrafteds until Monday night, when he was allowed to negotiate with teams.
Monday night, news seemed to break that the Baltimore Ravens had signed Herzlich. But Herzlich's a big Twitter guy and let everyone know nothing was settled. Tuesday morning, Herzlich (@MarkHerzlich) tweeted that he was joining the New York Giants:
Mark Herzlich (markherzlich) on Twitter via kwout
Got to like the move if you're a Giants fan. You know they need help at linebacker. You know Herzlich was, at one point, a universally feared athletic monster whose skills and controlled fury on the field would translate at any level. You don't know if he can ever get back to full strength and be that player again. But you do know that he's already kicked cancer's butt, and it's worth taking a chance on a guy who's shown what he could do pre-cancer and also the toughness and determination to beat it.
Herzlich will be a fun story to follow -- an upside play for whom everyone will be rooting. And he's just hooked on with a team that coaches talented young defensive players into stars. Great place for Herzlich, good signing for the Giants. If it doesn't work out, no big deal. Undrafted free-agent signing. Little or no risk. But if it does work out, what a story it'll be.