Last year the Kansas City Chiefs signed an undrafted free agent linebacker out of Maine named Jovan Belcher. Now, Maine's not your traditional football school (but they've produced an NFL player for five consecutive seasons). The Chiefs have said though that they'll look anywhere for talent and I think heading to Temple, Maine shows that.
Chiefs scouts visited the school back in March, along with a handful of other teams, to check out DE/LB Jordan Stevens, among others.
He was a defensive end with the Black Bears but at 6'2" and 250 pounds likely translates to linebacker in the NFL. He said he's heard from some teams that he fits in as an inside linebacker because of his size, according to the Kennebec Journal Star.
Playing in the Colonial Athletic Association, the toughest conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (you can still call it I-AA), Stevens excelled. He finished the 2009 season with 58 tackles, 11 1/2 of them for a loss. His 10 sacks in 11 games were third-best in the conference. The sack leader, Adrian Tracy of William & Mary, needed 14 games to get 12 sacks.
Stevens isn't going to be drafted instead taking the Belcher route.
Belcher signed with the Chiefs after the draft and never looked back. He made an excellent transition. He was arguably the Chiefs best special teamer and was the sixth leading tackler.
The Dolphins and Rams have recently called the University looking for more information on Stevens. The 49ers, Facons, Lions and Calgary Stampeders attended his March 17th workout.
Another Maine player, Tyler Eastman, has a shot at getting drafted. He's an offensive lineman and at 6'5" and 310 pounds he's got good size.
They've had good success at Maine with Belcher so it's worth another shot.