Tag: Mark Vital

Former Chiefs practice squad TE Mark Vital among 50 athletes to attend WWE tryout

Former #Chiefs TE Mark Vital among 50 athletes to attend WWE tryout. | from @EdEastonJr

The career life of a professional football player can be short, except for a few stars. The longevity in the league doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end of the road for most athletes, as other options present themselves.

The Chiefs brought in former Baylor basketball star Mark Vital to compete for an opportunity at tight end following his stellar college career.
Strong, versatile talent in basketball showed all the promise of other players that transitioned to football, such as Antonio Gates and Chiefs legend Tony Gonzalez.

The former two-time Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist and 2021 National Champion spent time on the Chiefs practice squad but was waived before the beginning of last season to open a 90-man roster spot for Carlos Dunlap.

After a stint with the Seattle Seahawks and playing in the NBA summer league, Vital is taking his talents to the squared circle. According to a new report from ESPN, Vital will be among 50 athletes trying out for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in Los Angeles as part of their Wrestlemania weekend. Twenty-six women and twenty-four men, through a series of performance and promotion evaluations, will be assessed as to whether they can earn WWE contracts.

Thirteen former football players, including Vital, are part of the tryouts as the world-renowned wrestling promotion seeks the next big star. WWE’s biggest show WrestleMania 39, takes place this Saturday and Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

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Chiefs waive TE Mark Vital, make DE Carlos Dunlap’s signing official

The #Chiefs make things officially with DE Carlos Dunlap, but say goodbye to TE Mark Vital in the process.

The Kansas City Chiefs have made a roster move in order to make room for newly-signed DE Carlos Dunlap.

According to the NFL’s daily personnel notice, the Chiefs have waived TE Mark Vital and officially signed Dunlap. The team also formally announced both of the transactions.

A former college basketball star on Baylor’s national championship team, Vital was added to the practice squad last season. He made the switch from a basketball player to tight end, one that we’ve seen many times before in the NFL.

Vital managed to show some progress in his transition this offseason and flashed during the team’s OTAs and mandatory minicamp workouts. Unfortunately, the team has a tremendous amount of depth at the tight end position this year, making Vital expendable.

As for the deal to bring in Dunlap, this move reinforces one of the team’s weakest position groups. He’ll provide sorely needed production and veteran presence along the team’s defensive line, which has some youthfulness to it.

Dunlap will be listed as a DE/OLB on the Chiefs’ 90-man roster so that he can wear the No. 8 jersey.

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Chiefs make several practice squad transactions on Wednesday

The #Chiefs continue to shuffle their practice squad for the playoffs, releasing another player, signing two veterans and restoring a player from the practice squad COVID-19 list.

After releasing four players from the practice squad on Tuesday, the Kansas City Chiefs continue to tinker with their practice squad. They have now made some new additions to their practice squad. They also released another player and restored a player from the practice squad COVID-19 list.

Let’s start with the additions, though.

According to the NFL’s personnel notice for Wednesday, the Chiefs signed DT Andrew Billings and OT Roderick Johnson to the practice squad. Both fill two of six veteran spots permitted on the practice squad.

Billings, 26, was a fourth-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2016 NFL draft out of Baylor. He spent four seasons with the Bengals, starting 37 games, recording 80 combined tackles, 14 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Billings signed with the Cleveland Browns in 2020, but he opted out of the season due to COVID-19. The Browns waived Billings in November of this season and he would get picked up by the Miami Dolphins, signing to their practice squad.

Johnson, 26, was a fifth-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2017 out of Florida State. The St. Louis, Missouri native never appeared in a game for the Browns, but he would go on to earn a shot with the Houston Texans from 2018-2020, where he has played right tackle, left tackle and guard.

While Billings and Johnson can provide some immediate depth for the Chiefs on the practice squad, they also could be players retained for 2022 as well. Billings is particularly intriguing given the pending free agents at the defensive tackle position (Derrick Nnadi and Jarran Reed).

In addition to the players signed to the practice squad, the Chiefs released RB Elijah McGuire. The acquisition of former 2019 sixth-round draft pick, Darwin Thompson, made McGuire expendable.

Finally, the Chiefs also restored TE Mark Vital back to the practice squad. He was placed on the practice squad COVID-19 list seven days ago and is now cleared to return.

In terms of non-practice squad moves, the Chiefs signed WR Chris Finke to a reserve/future contract. The team hosted Finke, who was with Kansas City during the 2021 offseason, on a visit on Tuesday.

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Chiefs place TE Mark Vital on practice squad COVID-19 list

The #Chiefs placed developmental TE Mark Vital on the practice squad COVID-19 list on Wednesday.

The Kansas City Chiefs have placed a player on the practice squad COVID-19 list.

According to the NFL’s official personnel notice for Wednesday, the Chiefs placed developmental TE Mark Vital on the practice squad COVID-19 list due to a positive test. This list functions as the normal Reserve/COVID-19 list, but for practice squad players. He’ll join fellow practice squad teammate Josh Jackson as the only two players currently on any COVID-19 lists for Kansas City.

Vital, 25, is a former college basketball player from the Baylor Bears undergoing a conversion to the tight end position. He joined the practice squad back in September, and he has been working to make the switch ever since. Despite some injuries and COVID issues at the tight end position earlier this season, Vital has not yet been elevated to the 53-man roster this season.

Wednesday was the first day that players were back in the building for the team following their Week 18 game against the Denver Broncos. There shouldn’t be any concern about spread as a result of this positive test.

Vital will fall under the NFL’s most recent COVID-19 return-to-play protocols. That means he’ll need a minimum of one negative test result in order to be restored to the practice squad.

This shouldn’t impact the team’s ability to prep for the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of the wild-card round. The team currently has three tight ends on the 53-man roster in addition to Nakia Griffin-Stewart and Matt Bushman on the practice squad.

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Chiefs sign TE Mark Vital to practice squad, waive WR Maurice Ffrench

The former college basketball star impressed in his tryout with the #Chiefs, earning a spot on the practice squad.

The Kansas City Chiefs hosted a pair of players on visits and tryouts last Friday. Both players have since signed to the team’s practice squad.

When the team activated DB Tyrann Mathieu from the Reserve/COVID-19 list they made the transaction to sign former K-State LB Elijah Sullivan to the practice squad, releasing DB Shakur Brown in a corresponding move. On Monday, the team added former Baylor Bears men’s basketball star Mark Vital.

Vital announced that he’d officially joined the team on Twitter, posting a picture of him signing a contract to join the practices squad.

After the signing with the Portland Trailblazers to play in the NBA Summer League, Vital revealed his intentions to shift his focus from professional basketball to play in the NFL. The 6-5 and 250-pound athlete played guard and forward as a college basketball player at Baylor, but will make the switch to tight end in the NFL.

At this point, Vital is nothing more than a developmental prospect. The Chiefs have four tight ends on the 53-man roster and unless there are a few injuries, he likely won’t be elevated. That said, Vital joins a long line of former basketball-to-tight-end converts in Kansas City. Tony Gonzalez, famously, played basketball in college. Then, more recently, Demetrius Harris and Ross Travis made the jump to the NFL after playing basketball in college.

In order to make room for Vital on the practice squad, the team released veteran WR Maurice Ffrench. He spent the 2020 season on the Chiefs’ practice squad after signing with the team as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Pittsburgh following the 2020 NFL draft.

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Chiefs bring in TE Mark Vital for a tryout, LB Elijah Sullivan for a visit

The #Chiefs hosted a former college basketball player for a tryout at tight end and had K-State linebacker in for a visit on Friday.

The Kansas City Chiefs had a pair of players in town on Friday for a visit and tryout respectively.

According to the NFL’s personnel notice, the Chiefs had TE Mark Vital in for a tryout and LB Elijah Sullivan in for a visit. The distinction between a tryout and a visit — tryouts include football activities, while visits do not.

Vital is an intriguing developmental prospect at the tight end position. Listed at 6-5 and 250 pounds, Vital helped lead the Baylor Bears men’s basketball team to a national championship earlier this year. With the conclusion of his college basketball career, Vital joined the Portland Trailblazers in the NBA Summer League. Soon after, he announced that he would shift his focus from basketball to professional football, a sport that he hadn’t played since he was a child.

The Seahawks had signed Vital to their practice squad in early September, but he only lasted four days with the team before he was released.

Sullivan was recently released from the San Franciso 49ers’ practice squad. He spent six years in Manhattan, Kansas with the Wildcats before signing with Niners following the 2021 NFL draft. Sullivan appeared in 48 games for the Wildcats, recording 144 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, six passes defended, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

The 6-0 and 215-pound linebacker is a bit undersized for what the Chiefs traditionally like at the position, but with Willie Gay Jr. on injured reserve, the team needs to add players at the position to their call list.

If either player does end up signing with Kansas City, it’ll likely be on the practice squad. Brett Veach typically tweaks that unit throughout the year as the team deals with various injuries and roster challenges.

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Live tracker: Here is where the top undrafted free agents have signed

The 2021 NBA draft has come and gone but the draft cycle still continues for a bit longer as the undrafted free agents find their new homes.

The 2021 NBA draft has come and gone but the draft cycle still continues for a bit longer as the undrafted free agents find their new homes.

While the following prospects didn’t get to hear their name called by the commissioner or deputy commissioner on Thursday night, they can find solace in the fact that their path to the pros is far from over. It’s not unheard of for an undrafted free agent to carve out a role for themselves in the NBA.

Some notable names, including Gonzaga’s Joel Ayayi and G League Ignite’s Daishen Nix, will join the fraternity of undrafted basketball players who hope to still make a name for themselves in the NBA.

Here is where the best remaining prospects have landed so far, according to reports:

Tracking top NCAA prospects who could still declare for 2020 NBA Draft

NCAA prospects have until April 26 to declare early entry for 2020 NBA Draft. There are several notable prospects who could join this class.

NCAA prospects have until next week to declare early entry for 2020 NBA Draft. There are several notable prospects who could join this class.

Two freshmen (Precious Achiuwa and Jahmi’us Ramsey) are widely projected as first-round prospects. Meanwhile, three sophomores (Isaiah Joe, Aaron Henry and Joel Ayayi) typically appear on mock drafts.

Others who are likely Top-100 prospects: Romeo Weems, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Filip Petrusev, Joe Wieskamp, Corey Kispert, Terrence Shannon Omer Yurtseven, Yves Pons, AJ Lawson, Charles Bassey, Anton Watson and Miles McBride.

Below is a list reviewing all of the key players in college basketball who have yet to make a public decision about their NBA futures, even if it is simply just to test the waters so long as they already applied to receive feedback from the Undergraduate Advisory Committee before April 16.

FRESHMEN

Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports

Precious Achiuwa, Memphis (Big)

Jahmi’us Ramsey, Texas Tech (Guard)

Romeo Weems, DePaul (Forward)

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana (Big)

Terrence Shannon, Texas Tech (Wing)

Anton Watson, Gonzaga (Forward)

N’Faly Dante, Oregon (Big)

DJ Jeffries, Memphis (Forward)

Lester Quinones, Memphis (Forward)

Spencer Jones, Stanford (Big)

Nah’shon Hyland, VCU (Guard)

James Bouknight, UCONN (Guard)

SOPHOMORES

Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

Isaiah Joe, Arkansas (Guard)

Aaron Henry, Michigan (Wing)

Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga (Guard)

Filip Petrusev, Gonzaga (Big)

Joe Wieskamp, Iowa (Wing)

AJ Lawson, South Carolina (Guard)

Charles Bassey, Western Kentucky (Big)

Emmitt Williams, LSU (Forward)

Isaac Likekele, Oklahoma State (Guard)

Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton (Guard)

Will Richardson, Oregon (Guard)

Kessler Edwards, Pepperdine (Forward)

Quentin Grimes, Houston (Guard)

Aaron Wiggins, Maryland (Guard)

Xavier Johnson, Pittsburgh (Guard)

Davion Mitchell, Baylor (Guard)

Marcus Bingham, Michigan State (Big)

JUNIORS

James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Corey Kispert, Gonzaga (Wing)

Omer Yurtseven, Georgetown (Big)

Yves Pons, Tennessee (Wing)

Colbey Ross, Pepperdine (Guard)

Oscar da Silva, Stanford (Forward)

Nahziah Carter, Washington Wing)

Dru Smith, Missouri (Guard)

Matt Mitchell, San Diego State (Forward)

Mark Vital, Baylor (Forward)

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