Too big to play football? Not for Sea-Tac Cobras

Everett Corley has been big all his life, but he’s only been able to play football for some of it. he 6-foot-10, 400-pound lineman didn’t play until he was in high school, although that wasn’t due to a lack of interest.

“I was always too big for my age group,” Corley said after practice last week, just his fourth day with the Seattle-Tacoma Cobras.

Corley, 24, was at a crossroads in his career when the Professional Developmental Football League team called to gauge his interest. He’d just been released by the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League — the same team made famous after Kurt Warner led them to consecutive Arena Bowl appearances in 1996 and ’97 — and he wasn’t sure where to turn.

“I thought God had said, ‘You played enough,’ ” Corley said.

He wasn’t unemployed for long.

It took just two weeks for him to catch on with the Cobras, and Corley hopes he can develop some of his raw talent for a shot at an NFL training camp.

It’s been a long road to the Seattle-Tacoma area, considering it started all the way back in Fort Washington, Md., outside of Washington, D.C.

Corley played some soccer as he grew up, and he always had his eyes on the football field. By the time he reached Friendly High School, he finally got his chance.

“It was amazing,” he said. “Probably the best feeling I ever had.” READ MORE