From out of work to the Super Bowl: Midseason cuts end up in NFL's biggest game

ATLANTA — Albert McClellan wasn’t thinking about playing in the Super Bowl back in early November. He was worried about getting his daughter to school on time.

In between that and picking her up at the end of the day, he thought about when and if he’d have another NFL job.

The Baltimore Ravens cut McClellan, a seven-year veteran linebacker and starter for their 2012 championship team, twice this season. Once was just before Week 1, but they brought him back a couple weeks later. Then he got cut again in late October.

When he was out of the league he would get up early to work out, just to stay ready. He’d take his daughter to school and pick her up, and squeeze in another workout during the day. And his phone wasn’t ringing.

“It’s real tough, McClellan said. “It’s just wishing you had a job, wishing there was a reason you’re up at 5:30 in the morning to work out, instead of hoping you get a job.”

The Super Bowl is what players dream of. It’s a first-class affair all week, with the attention of the world on both teams. There’s also a thin line between being in a game watched by 100 million people and being unemployed.

McClellan went from not knowing if he was done at age 32 to Super Bowl LIII. The Patriots were the only team that showed interest in him when he was cut the second time, and he signed with them. McClellan played seven regular-season games for the Patriots, almost all of them on special teams (he blocked two punts against the Dolphins), and both playoff games.

Legends like Barry Sanders, LaDainian Tomlinson and Tony Gonzalez never got to play in a Super Bowl. McClellan is pretty lucky.

“You’ve been cut, nobody wanted you the first time, you’re thinking in your head, is it really over for you?” McClellan said. “You can’t take any day for granted.

“It’s a blessing to even be here.”

C.J. Anderson is one of Super Bowl players who got cut

There are a handful of players in Super Bowl LIII who were free agents during the season, concerned about what would come next. The NFL moves fast, there are a lot of talented players on the outside looking in, and there’s no guarantee you’ll get another shot after you’re cut.

Rams running back C.J. Anderson is the most notable midseason cut in this Super Bowl. He was cut by the Broncos in the offseason, and then by the Panthers and the Raiders during the regular season. Anderson played great down the stretch for the Rams, a big reason they are in the Super Bowl, but he had doubts about what came next after he was released by the Raiders. Had Todd Gurley not hurt his knee late in the season, who knows?

“I made enough money in this league to where, if I never played again, I’d be OK,” Anderson told Yahoo Sports’ Kimberley Martin as part of a sit-down interview.

Anderson isn’t the only one with a story like that from Super Bowl LIII. The Rams roster stayed mostly intact during the season, but the Patriots like to churn the bottom few spots of the roster. So some players who were once on the Patriots this season will be watching at home, while a few others got a heck of a break.

Safety Obi Melifonwu is another player cut by the Raiders who is in Super Bowl LIII. He was a second-round pick by the team in 2017 but injuries limited him to seven games as a rookie. The Raiders cut him in late August, then he went on injured reserve when he cleared waivers. When he was healthy enough, he was a free agent in the middle of the NFL season.

Melifonwu went to high school in Massachusetts and college at Connecticut, so he had ties to the area. It would sound good to say he picked the Patriots among the interested teams knowing he had a chance to finish the season in the Super Bowl, but he was just looking to get his young career on track.

“You want to play for a coach that is going to help you develop as a player,” Melifonwu said. “Everything worked out, felt right. I just wanted to be a part of a great organization and with a great coach who can bring out the best in me as a player.”

Melifonwu played a couple games for the Patriots and in the AFC championship game. That’s a long way from rehabbing after knee surgery while on Raiders’ injured reserve, wondering about his future.

“There was definitely a lot of uncertainty,” Melifonwu said. “But I’m a man of faith. God works in mysterious ways, and I just kept my faith.

“I step back and think about it every day, every day I wake up I thank God to be here on this team.”

Players who were cut are grateful for chance

Linebacker Ramon Humber is another player saved from a midseason cut by the Patriots. Humber, in his 10th NFL season, was cut by the Bills as part of a youth movement. His uncertainty didn’t last long, as the Patriots signed him two days later. Still, it’s a jolt to the system to be let go, and he won’t take making the Super Bowl for granted.

“It makes it special,” Humber said. “Anytime you have to deal with being released, not knowing if you’re going to be able to play again, and now you’re in a Super Bowl it makes for a special season.”

All of the players from both teams are grateful to be in the Super Bowl. It might mean a little more for those who were given up on earlier this season, for whatever reason.

“To be cut twice in the same season, it kind of wakes you up,” McClellan said. “Coming here, I’ve got something to prove, something to show out of myself. Being cut is motivation, and I would assume anybody else who has been cut midseason and picked up by another team is motivated. Not to say I want revenge on the team that let me loose, but I want to show I’m better than they thought I was.”

Melifonwu said he wouldn’t change anything, because all the adversity took him down this path, which includes a fortunate Super Bowl appearance.

“It’s definitely special. Guys go their whole careers without making a Super Bowl,” Melifonwu said.
“To be able to be at this point, to come on late and make a Super Bowl, it’s definitely incredible.”

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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