TEMPE, Ariz. – They once were Colts and would love nothing more than another chance to don the Horseshoe.
Really, they'd be just fine with any NFL team signing them for the 2015 offseason, but what they did in their time with the Colts had them believing at the NFL's Veteran Combine on Sunday in Phoenix.
Former Colts Jamaal Anderson, Jack Breckner and Caesar Rayford spoke with Colts.com on Sunday following their combine performances.
Their paths to the NFL could not be further apart, with the common trait coming in their respective trips to Indianapolis.
What is that trio looking for as they optimistically await another call from the NFL?
Defensive End Jamaal Anderson
Of the 105 attendees at Sunday's Veteran Combine, no one had a better initial start to life in the NFL than Jamaal Anderson.
He was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons.
Anderson's next NFL stop would come in Indianapolis with the Colts signing him prior to the 2011 season.
The highlight of Anderson's lone season with the Colts came in a fumble recovery for a touchdown against the Steelers.
He would move on to Cincinnati the next season, but tore a quad tendon in Week Two of the 2012 season, the last time he's seen the playing field.
At the age of 29, Anderson participated on Sunday among a ton of youngsters, because the drive is still there.
"I never said I was going to let myself end my career off of an injury," Anderson said on Sunday morning. "It was definitely a hard time when I got injured (2012). I had an opportunity to sit back and reflect and see if this was a game I really wanted to play.
"I knew that I could still go out there and play this game at a high level and I just want the opportunity to go out there and do that. Hopefully I turned some heads today."
Defensive End Caesar Rayford
He was the star of the Colts 2013 preseason.
Looking like he belonged on an NBA court, Caesar Rayford (6-7 and 267 pounds) was a force off the edge that August for the Indianapolis Colts.
Rayford's five sacks in four preseason games made an impression across the NFL.
The man who previously had stops with the Spokane Shock and the Utah Blaze was about to be traded to America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys.
"It really jumpstarted my career and it helped to get my name out there in the process," Rayford said of the Colts giving him his first career NFL opportunity of any kind.
"Those guys took me under their wing and helped me out so much. Cory Redding, Robert Mathis, they really stuck with me, helped me with my technique, especially Robert Mathis."
The Colts traded Rayford just prior to the 2013 season and he spent all that year with the Cowboys.
Dallas cut him at the end of the 2014 preseason and it was back to the minor leagues for Rayford
As matter of fact, Rayford is currently a member of the Arena Football League's Jacksonville Sharks. Their season opener comes Saturday night.
Now, Rayford wants to know if he will be making that season-opening trip, or if he did enough on Sunday to impress an NFL team to take another chance on the imposing pass rusher.
"I think I did really well," Rayford said of his performance.
"I left it all out there and just gave it my all."
Offensive Tackle Jack Breckner
If Jack Breckner wasn't in Arizona on Sunday, he would have been busy preparing for his job as a credit analyst.
The return to the nine-to-five lifestyle for Breckner will come this week, but he wouldn't mind seeing a work hiatus for a different job.
For the 6-9, 328-pound Breckner, that means taking his cubical work ethic to the gridiron.
Breckner was one of nearly 2,000 applicants for the inaugural Veteran Combine and was surprised to be one of the 105 participants taking part on Sunday.
As a product of Division III Gustavus Adolphus College, then later stints in the Arena Football League and Indoor Football League, Breckner was grateful for the chance the Colts gave him during the 2014 offseason.
"They have a great scouting department there," Breckner said of the Colts.
"Those guys definitely do their work there trying to find guys like me. There are a lot of us out there. There are a lot of quality players. I don't know how you sort through all of them but they try to do it."
Breckner, who was waived by the Colts during the 2014 Training Camp, would like to put on hold worrying about other people's finances, for the time being.
Sunday gave him a brief break in a search to attract another NFL shot.
"I thought it was great exposure for guys like me who aren't really known that well and have been in and out of the league to just come and get an extra chance," Breckner said.
*For Veteran Combine results, head to NFL.com.
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