A lot of undrafted rookies got bad news at some point on Saturday and almost all of them didn’t get reprieves a short time later.
Gunner Olszewski was the exception. Olszewski was told by the Patriots that he was being cut as the team moved to 53 players, but a trade sending defensive back Keion Crossen to the Texans opened up a spot and Olszewski got a happier phone call a few hours later.
“It was a roller coaster. That’s the best way to describe it,” Olszewski said, via ESPN.com. “For one second you think, ‘I don’t know what’s going on.’ The next second, ‘I’m a Patriot.’ At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how it happened. What happened is I’m a Patriot now. I’m just proud to be here, and proud to go to work.”
Olszewski played cornerback at Division II Bemidji State, but moved to wide receiver with the Patriots and also saw time as a kick returner this summer. That versatility helped land a roster spot and he’ll need to keep finding ways to show his value to the team to keep the next phone call from being a permanent one.