Dream come true: Morganton's Hemby signs NFL contract

Credit: Photo courtesy UNC Athletics

Morganton native Jordan Hemby, seen here defending a Georgia Tech receiver last year, recently signed a rookie free agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL.

By: Paul Schenkel | Morganton News Herald
Published: May 18, 2010

MORGANTON --

Jordan Hemby has come a long way from the eighth-grade kid at Table Rock Middle School playing his first year of competitive football.
After four years on the gridiron for Freedom High, then four more at Kenan Stadium as a defensive back for the University of North Carolina, Hemby's hard work paid off on April 30, when he signed a three-year rookie free agent contract to play for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.
He's come a long way indeed, but it's also been a quick journey up the football ladder for Hemby.
He'll have the chance to face one of the game's current and all-time greatest quarterbacks every day in practice, despite only having played cornerback for part of five seasons.
"I definitely feel like this is the opportunity of a lifetime," Hemby said in a recent phone interview. "I'm really looking forward to it. I've been a fan of the Colts and Peyton Manning for a while now. It's going to be crazy to have a chance to go up against him in practice and try to pick him off."
Hemby, 22, hopes to stay at cornerback in the NFL but realizes that he'll probably be asked to play some special teams, where he excelled at UNC as a senior.
"I feel like I can be an asset to the team (at cornerback), but special teams was something I learned the imprtance of at Chapel Hill," the 2005 Freedom High grad said. "So I'm thinking they may use me on kickoff coverage with my experience there.
"I had two pretty good cornerbacks in front of me (last year at UNC), so it was just where I was needed and I didn't mind. I'm the kind of guy who's willing to help the team any way possible. To me, it's not about going out and proving myself; I just want to go play."
Hemby, at 5-11, 190 pounds, said the NFL-style system that former University of Miami and Cleveland Browns head coach Butch Davis runs at UNC - both in games and especially in practice - should have prepared him for life in the pros.
"The tempo, how they ran things in practice," Hemby said, "all those things help. You're always on the move, always pursuing the ball."
Some might say Hemby's facing long odds to stay off the practice roster and make the team's final cut after training camp in August. After all, he did go undrafted.
But Hemby - one of 16 rookie free agents the Colts signed this offseason - has already overcome the naysayers once, coming back for a productice college career after tearing his ACL during his freshman year in college.
"Definitely having a spiritual mindset and good relationship with the man upstairs helped me get through that," Hemby said. "The support system around me helped too. I had people telling me even though I got hurt, people come back. They just kept reminding me that this isn't over and I can still accomplish my goals. That way it all turned out, signing with an NFL team now, it was a good thing."
Hemby is living in Raleigh now, but leaves Sunday to spend the next couple months in Indy. He said he looks forward to reconnecting with old friends when he comes back to Burke County briefly in July before training camp.
For now, though, he's focused on a greater awareness of the game and himself.
"I feel like I want to get better mentally with how I approach the game," Hemby said. "I think I have the physical skills. A lot of people tell you that at this level, the mental aspect is where you make your mark. That's what separates you."

Dream come true: Morganton's Hemby signs NFL contract

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