Most people won’t pay too much thought to a seventh round draft pick. That’s just the nature of things. Through 2017, there were 910 players selected in the round dating back two decades. In that time only 15 of them managed to reach a Pro Bowl in their career. Expectations must be tempered with it. Yet to the men who hear their name called on that day, it means everything. Javon Wims understands better than most.
His road to the NFL should not have landed him anywhere near the draft. That much is clear by his personal history. Though Wims always loved football, he only played one year of it in high school. His primary focus had been on basketball. Unfortunately, he wasn’t good enough to attract major attention, averaging 9.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game as a senior.
It was clear he needed to change his plans. So he decided to try the football route. Not ideal timing. He had one year of experience playing the game at a high school level and if that weren’t enough, he was dealing with asthma problems. It’s little surprise he got no offers from any notable schools.
So he had to bite the bullet and took the junior college route at Hinds Junior College out of Mississippi.
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Javon Wims almost missed his chance but didn’t waste it
One scholarship. That’s all he got in terms of opportunities. This was going to be his only chance. If he blew it, the odds of reaching the NFL would be next to impossible. He took it and didn’t look back. In nine games over the course of 2015, Wims collected 779 yards and nine touchdowns including four games with two touchdown catches in each.
His head coach there said he’d only ever seen one other player with his mix of natural talent and intensity.
“He’s an intense guy,” Murphy said. “The only guy I’d compare him to in all my years here would be Fred Smoot.”
Smoot was a highly productive defensive back for the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings back in the early 2000s. He collected 21 career interceptions. Fairly good company to be associated with. It seems Wims did enough to get noticed. At the end of the year, representatives from Georgia came forth with an offer to join their program in 2016.
It was a dream come true, but also merely a step in the right direction. Though he’d made it to the big college stage, he faced a roster loaded with talent and not a lot of time to make a name for himself.
Picking the perfect time
His first year at Georgia passed by without much buzz. Wims caught 17 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown. The 2017 season would be his senior year. It was his last hope to get NFL scouts to notice him. He had to do something with it. After a strong opener against Appalachian State though, he sort of faded into the background. Over the next five weeks, he failed to muster more than 43 yards in a game.
Time was running out. He had to make his move. That came against Missouri where he put up five catches for 95 yards. A week later he made a big touchdown catch against Florida that helped break the game open. Things started to click and he became one of their primary playmakers through the air down the stretch. This culminated in a huge 73-yard, 1 TD performance against Oklahoma in the CFB playoffs.
When it was all over he had 720 yards, seven touchdowns and had helped his team reach the national championship. He’d done everything he could. It was up to the fates now.
Six rounds came and went. Then, early in the seventh round, Wims got the phone call. The Bears would be taking him with the 224th pick. A kid who had asthma, played one year of high school football, got one scholarship offer to play college and came in late to play in the SEC had gotten himself drafted. It was a story of perseverance that makes following sports so compelling. A story of a boy growing into a man and not letting stacked odds deter him from his dream.
Regardless of what happens now, it’s okay to cheer for this kid on Sundays. He earned it.