From Metal Finishing to the NFL?

                 

Ben Guidugli (right) is trying to make the NFL roster with the St. Louis Rams

 

From metal finishing to the NFL? That’s the challenge that St. Louis Rams’ rookie tight end Ben Guidugli is trying to meet as he attempts to make the Rams roster this season as an undrafted free agent.

 

Guidugli is a University of Cincinnati graduate who spent this past summer working for Cleveland Black Oxide metal finishing company.

 

"I was just in there taking inventory, and doing whatever they wanted me to do," he tells the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

 

Here’s the newspaper’s rundown on his chances of making the Rams roster:

 

Guidugli's pass-catching numbers went down as a senior at the University of Cincinnati. And he's small for the position at 6-1, 230. So like hundreds of undrafted rookies across the nation, he had to wait out the lockout before being signed by St. Louis. As the Rams take inventory of their tight end position, Guidugli is now doing whatever his coaches want him to do.

 

"I can play fullback, be that motion guy, or tight end," says Guidugli. "In this offense, the fullbacks can be split out or on the line, or in the backfield. So I just want to show 'em that I can do all of that. And then obviously special teams as well."

 

Guidugli had two catches against Indianapolis and flattened a Colts player with a crunching crackback block that got the Rams' sideline excited.

 

"The other guys were pretty hyped up," Guidugli said. "It felt good to hit somebody that hard, and it felt good to get congratulated by your teammates. So it was good both ways."