One by one, life weeds them out. The reasons why those who could have been didn't make it are endless. Ability. Distractions. Drugs. Grades. Injuries. Bad luck. So, by the time most of the athletes have made it to today's NFL draft, they already are survivors. They have beaten the odds. Some, however, have beaten longer odds than others. A look at some of their stories: Silent cheers: It will take a team with a bit of imagination, and a willingness to take the extra step. But sometime today, or maybe tomorrow, a team will take a chance and draft defensive end Kenny Walker of Nebraska. There is a lot to like about Walker. He's quick and a relentless pass rusher. He had 21 tackles for losses and 11 sacks last season. Walker is also deaf. "You have to take that into consideration," said Carl Peterson, general manager of the Chiefs. "He's going to have to have someone with him at all times, unless you are able to teach your defensive line coach to sign. But he's a very talented guy." Walker has been deaf since contracting meningitis at the age of 2. Still, he was able to become an All-Big Eight player with the Cornhuskers, and his was a visual love affair with the Nebraska fans, who would stand as one and send Walker his accolades by sign language. "Someone with some imagination will work it out," said Giants vice president George Young. "There was a player named Bonnie Sloan with the Cardinals who was deaf, but he could read lips. So maybe Walker will be able to overcome it. He plays defense, so he doesn't have to hear a cadence." No help at home: Texas Tech cornerback Sammy Walker has proven to be a solid coverage man despite being blind in his right eye. At age 17, Walker was working on a construction site and was hit above the eye with a board. Most days, his vision is 20/200. On a good day, it's 20/80, which causes problems in his depth perception. Not that Walker gets any relief from his family, which numbers nine sisters and three brothers (which is why Walker declared for the draft a year early). Walker said they call him "Cy" (short for "Cyclops") and "Popeye." "Dinner time is organized chaos," Walker said. "You say a prayer, and you grab for what you want. My brothers and sisters team up on me. They were smart. They knew which side to come up on." Running a new route: He won't be drafted the first day, and he might not be drafted at all. But Maurice Ware, a wide receiver out of Northwood Institute, figures he can overcome that. Ware left home at age 6 _ telling his mother he didn't want to live in Montgomery, Ala., and instead headed back to Albion, Mich., to live with his grandmother. He survived the trauma of having a father in prison. And he rebounded after spending a year and a half "just wasting away" after dropping out of Michigan State. "When I look back, my childhood was going back to Jackson prison to visit my father," Ware said. "It was tough. When most kids get into mischief, people know it's just a phase. With me, it was always "You're going to turn out just like your dad.' On the street, and from my relatives. I had to watch every step I made." Ware bounced around from relative to relative until moving in with his cousin, a football coach named Larry Williams. Only after he signed with Michigan State did his mother and father try to get close again, and the confusion that caused prompted him to leave school. Now, Ware thinks he finally has his life in order. "If I'm given a chance, I think I can make it," he said. "All of this has taught me a lot about people. And about being tough." Amazing comeback: It was only last July when Brett Favre lay in the ditch, the passenger's window of his car pointing toward the sky. Favre had skidded off the road, flipped twice and crashed into a pine tree. It left Favre with a concussion, a cracked vertebra and several lacerations. Even more serious was an operation that removed 30 inches of Favre's small intestine. It all left Favre 25 pounds lighter with football season approaching. Yet Favre missed only one game. Going into today's draft, he's among the top three quarterbacks. Overcoming bigotry: For most athletes, having to battle dyslexia would be difficult enough. For Mike Croel, it was only one of his problems. Croel also had to overcome hate and bigotry as a black child raised by white parents. Croel was left with Phil and Suzanne Croel 23 years ago, and the family's life was difficult. There were the two weeks when the family had to be protected by the FBI, and there was a cross burned in the yard of a neighboring family that also was multiracial, and there were the comments about how the Croels were "polluting" the neighborhood. "Our very safety was threatened by irrational forces," Suzanne Croel said. "We had several occasions we had to watch carefully over our family's physical safety." Through it all, Croel grew up and became the most talented linebacker entering this season's draft. "To his credit, he didn't let those things make any difference culturally," Phil Croel said. "He is very aware and very educated on his heritage. He is not an Oreo cookie, white on the inside and dark on the outside. He has crossed the white and black cultures as well as anyone in America. He can talk jive, he can ride a surfboard, he can do so many things." He also can play football.