BESS, WRIGHT RELIEVED: Undrafted rookie free agent wide receiver Davone Bess and Wright fell in love with the sound of silence coming from their phones this past weekend. What that sound meant was that both players had survived the final cuts and were part of the 53-man roster for Week 1.
Bess, 22, had seemingly locked up his spot midway through training camp with his solid play on the practice field and in preseason games, but he never took his foot off the gas pedal or got too comfortable with his job security, despite the fact he was seeing lots of reps with the first-team offense.
"I wouldn't say confident or comfortable because I didn't get like that at one point," said Bess, who starred at the University of Hawaii. "It was just a matter of me going out there and working hard everyday and just trying not to really overlook things and think you're going to make the team. You never know until the cloud settles and everything worked out perfect. I didn't get a phone call so that was my way of knowing, okay, I probably made it. But you never know until it's settled.
"I couldn't sleep the night before they had to make final cuts because you just don't know. It's a business and everybody knows it's a business and I'm happy I made it. It was a long haul for me personally as far as being an undrafted free agent and I'm just thankful I got an opportunity and I want to show (the coaches) that they made the right decision as far as keeping me."
Wright is less than three years removed from playing for and winning the national championship at the University of Texas, only to see his draft status fall drastically because of a torn rotator cuff he never even knew he had. The Dolphins still selected him in the seventh round in 2006 and after rehabbing his surgically repaired shoulder that entire season, Wright contributed in 2007 with nine starts.
Coming into this camp, with an entirely new regime in place from the top of the front office all the way down, Wright was unsure of his future with the Dolphins. The fact that the team drafted three defensive ends and signed free agent Randy Starks put Wright on edge, but he stuck to his guns and showed first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano and defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni that he was capable of playing on either side of the ball, which was enough in the end to secure his spot on the roster.
"I feel pretty good. I'm playing right side and left side and I felt like I went in there and did some good things and thought I had a pretty good chance, but you're never too sure about anything in this business," Wright said. "On Friday I basically just went to the movies, went to GameWorks and just got away and didn't really try to think about it at all."
Now Bess and Wright can concentrate on preparing for the Jets game this Sunday.
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