Former Husky Shelton Sampson still chasing his NFL dream

By Sandy Ringer | Seattle Times • Published July 01, 2008

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Shelton Sampson wants another shot.

A half-dozen years ago, the speedster from Clover Park High School in Lakewood was projected to become a star running back at Washington and make a run at the NFL.

It didn’t work out.

But Sampson hasn’t given up his dream of playing pro football, and is back on the field this summer, playing semipro football with the Seattle Stallions. He came up empty after a recent tryout with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League, but his unwavering belief in his ability was reinforced by advice from his mother and grandmother.

"They told me, ’Exhaust all of your abilities until you can’t do it anymore, until you see fit to be doing something else,’ " Sampson said recently. "I feel this is a really good opportunity."

Stallions coach Merle Davis is convinced he can play at the next level.

"I don’t see him being with us too long," Davis said.

Dave Miller, coach at Lakes High School in Lakewood, remembers devising defensive game plans to stop Sampson, a three-time state hurdles champion at Clover Park.

"If he got in the open, you were in trouble because he’s so fast," Miller said.

The 5-foot-11 Sampson weighs 230 pounds, but he still can break a long one. He says he clocks 40 yards in 4.4 seconds, a key reason he might still interest the NFL.

"With that kind of athleticism, he might have a shot, no doubt," Miller said. "He’s got that speed everyone’s looking for."

Sampson showed he still has jets when he broke what would have been a 57-yard touchdown the first time he touched the ball in the Stallions’ season opener in June at Ingraham High School, their home field. His run was called back on a procedure penalty, and Sampson’s final numbers in that victory were modest: five carries, 27 yards; two receptions, 10 yards.

Still, Sampson was playing the game he loves.

"It felt really good," he said of his return to the football field. "It was really cool to be in a game situation again."

In his first three Northwest Football League games, Sampson lead the team with 236 rushing yards on 39 carries, a 6.1 average, with one touchdown for the 3-1 Stallions, including 145 yards on 24 tries June 21 in a loss to the unbeaten Puget Sound Titans.