Second-year linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. has had a terrific story thus far in his young NFL career. He was a star at the University of Cincinnati in college but went undrafted because teams were concerned with his size and ability to play at the next level. The Vikings brought Pace Jr. in on a UDFA contract, and he turned out to be one of the better linebackers in the league.
When Jordan Hicks went down last year, the coaching staff turned to Pace Jr. to lean on. They gave him the green dot — the speaker to hear what plays are being called to relay to the rest of the team — which shows how much trust they had in the then-rookie.
Appearing in a segment on the Up & Adams show hosted by Kay Adams, Pace Jr. confirmed he would once again wear the green dot entering his sophomore year.
“I believe so,” said Pace Jr. “I believe so. We lost [Jordan] Hicks and when he went down last year, I took over and they gave me that trust that they had. I believe now that he’s gone, I’m definitely going to wear the green dot this coming season.”
It doesn’t happen often with UDFAs, but it shows that if you keep your head down and work hard, the sky is the limit. It is also a credit to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his staff for finding Pace Jr. as he is shaping up to be a diamond in the rough of his draft class.
