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TAMPA — By any measure, towering offensive tackle Demar Dotson isn't supposed to be here, not when you consider he didn't play a down of football until his senior year at Southern Mississippi.
When he arrived at One Buc Place after the NFL draft — in which his name was never called — there wasn't even a pair of cleats on the premises big enough to fit his size 18 feet.
But the 6-foot-9. 315-pound rookie free agent hasn't been deterred by overwhelming odds against someone in his shoes.
Dotson, a former high school basketball star who once dreamed of an NBA career, has quietly gone about playing catchup this preseason. With rosters reducing from 75 to 53 by Saturday, he may have a legitimate shot given the recent upheaval on the offensive line, or he could land on the practice squad.
One thing is certain: Dotson, 23, has grabbed his coaches' attention with his hard work, behemoth stature and determination.
"I know I have every tool it takes to be a good offensive tackle, and I don't want to let it go to waste," he said. "The odds are against you, I know that. You come in as a free agent and at the bottom of the list, and knowing that I have no experience at football, period, let alone offensive tackle. But people overcome the odds all the time. Just because the odds are against you doesn't mean you can't defeat them."
His status as an unknown newcomer immediately became evident when coach Raheem Morris addressed his team in the first meeting of training camp. Stressing how everybody would get a chance to make an impact, he pointed to Dotson and asked if anyone even knew who he was. Cornerback Aqib Talib jumped up and yelled: "That's John Coffey from the Green Mile!" — alluding to 6-5, 315-pound actor Michael Clark Duncan, who portrayed prisoner Coffey in the 1999 movie.
The nickname has stuck.
"We call him the Green Mile and we love him," Morris said.
They loved him at Alexandria (La.) High, too, where Dotson was a three-year letterman who earned all-state honors in his last two basketball seasons. As a senior, he led his team to a 17-5 record and a spot in the state playoffs, averaging 21.2 points and eight rebounds.
That led to a two-year stint playing basketball at Southeastern Illinois College, then a transfer to Southern Mississippi, where he was an occasional starter as power forward and center. But after his junior year, he began to feel that his options as a pro would be limited.
"Basketball was my passion, but I realized that the NBA wasn't going to be in my future," he said. "If anything, I'd be playing overseas. So I decided to give football a try, because people kept saying that was I big enough to get a shot from some team in the NFL."
His Southern Miss coaches were delighted to have him and immediately began working him out as a defensive tackle. But it was a tough transition for the complete football novice.
"When I went out there and put the pads on, it was the first time I'd ever played," he said. "I never played in high school, never in junior high, never in Pee Wee, none of that. For me, it was always basketball. But after a few weeks of football, I found out I loved that, too."
Dotson played six games in 2008, making three tackles. But he stood out with his desire to succeed, as well as his formidable size and strength.
A handful of NFL scouts had checked Dotson out during the season. The first one who told him he looked like an offensive tackle was Dom Green, then a scout for the Bucs who has moved on to Kansas City. When the season ended, Dotson's agent sent him to Georgia to work out with former Broncos offensive tackle Tony Jones. Dotson was evaluated again by the Bucs and got a call minutes after the draft.
"I think the biggest thing is that he's a hard worker," Bucs offensive line coach Pete Mangurian said. "He's excelled at one thing, so he knows what it takes to be good. And once you've learned to do that, you can take it into other areas and apply that same work ethic.
"He's focused. He wants to be a good player. There are just a lot of things he's never done before. So you stay patient. But when you've got a guy who's willing to work, the possibilities are endless, and we're still working on it. He's got abilities, no question about it."
Dotson strives for steady improvement.
"I get better every day," he said, "and I try not to leave the field without making sure I'm a little better than I was before I stepped on it."
With those size 18 cleats.
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