{"id":1266600,"date":"2020-11-13T17:02:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T22:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1266600"},"modified":"2020-11-13T17:04:02","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T22:04:02","slug":"alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/","title":{"rendered":"Alvin Kamara's College Career Was Almost Over Before It Started"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As a top target for one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/alvin-kamara-just-made-saints-fans-and-fantasy-owners-breathe-a-huge-sigh-of-relief\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alvin Kamara has made<\/a> a name for himself four years into his NFL career. However, the fact that Kamara is even on the field is\u00a0remarkable in its own right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No one player has the perfect path to NFL glory, but Kamara's was incredibly tricky. Lucky for him, he landed on his feet and can now say that he made lemonade out of the lemons that were thrown toward him as he tried to reach that ultimate level.\u00a0Let's revisit Karma's incredible path to the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/new-orleans-saints\/\">New Orleans Saints<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Alvin Kamara's strange college football path<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"16 Questions with Alvin Kamara: Workout Routine, Favorite NFL Stadium &amp; more!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LhHnAV-dO3U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Kamara had it all coming out of his storied career in Georgia's prep system. He was going to go to Nick Saban's legendary college football program and pave his way into becoming a top NFL pick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, as he was on his way to Roll Tide glory, life threw a couple of curveballs that, both through Kamara's own actions and some bad luck, too, sent him down a different road.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/theundefeated.com\/features\/tennessee-alvin-kamara-2017-nfl-draft\/\">The Undefeated<\/a>, Kamara was ready to take the field for Saban when a knee injury took him out for the season. As Kamara started getting back to practice, however, Saban suspended him for reported behavior issues, and after Kamara was arrested for driving without a license, things weren't looking good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alabama released the star recruit, and instead of going to another major program, he attended Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Turning things around took a lot of hard work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3OWyYwGmXJw\\\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/sean-payton-is-using-a-2-purchase-to-protect-his-24-million-fortune-from-roger-goodell\/\">Sean Payton Is Using a $2 Purchase to Protect His $24 Million Fortune From Roger Goodell<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alvin Kamara played at community college for one season before getting back to Division-I football and committing to Tennessee. While he wasn't the player who was once promised as a superstar, he showed glimpses of the hype that once preceded him. Many questioned why Kamara was not used more\u00a0as <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/christian-mccaffrey-just-proved-why-the-panthers-desperately-need-him\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Christian McCaffrey<\/a> was tearing things up\u00a0at Stanford across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To Kamara's credit, however, he took the smaller role in stride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Just always thankful for the opportunities I got,&#8221; he said (per The Undefeated). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;I want to get the ball as much as I can. Carries, catches \u2026 however they want to use me. But it's not just about me. I was part of a team. Coaches do what's best for the team. That's the way it should be.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Kamara ended up spending two years with Tennessee,\u00a0amassing 683 receiving yards\u00a0and nearly 1,300 rushing yards en-route to 23 touchdowns in the process. While he was not the ace that many once believed him to be at Tennessee, he was good enough to get the eyes of NFL scouts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After seeing 66 other players take the podium, Kamara was selected 67th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. Now, he's finally showing that he's every bit the player people wanted him to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Alvin Kamara proves it on the big stage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1250\" height=\"833\" src=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg?strip=all&#038;quality=89\" alt=\"Alvin Kamara warms up before a Saints game\" class=\"wp-image-1266604\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg?w=300&amp;h=200 300w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg?w=768&amp;h=512 768w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg?w=1024&amp;h=682 1024w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800 1200w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg?w=90&amp;h=60 90w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" \/><figcaption>Alvin Kamara jogs onto the field before a game against the Tennessee Titans | Wesley Hitt\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/drew-brees-just-got-a-promising-sign-that-improves-the-saints-super-bowl-chances\/\">Drew Brees and the Saints Just Got the News They Desperately Needed<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his fourth year with the Saints,\u00a0Kamara was a Pro Bowler\u00a0in his first three seasons despite splitting time between the bench and the starting lineup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, however, has been a significant step in the right direction. The Saints use Kamara's wide receiver abilities as a running back to make him the primary target for Drew Brees' passes. He's well on his way to having a career season and sees it as a testament to everything he's worked on since his early days.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, we just have to wait and see what <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/alvin-kamara-has-decided-to-follow-in-ezekiel-elliotts-footsteps\/\">Alvin Kamara can do next<\/a>. What he has proven, however, is that for every lapse in judgment that he's made, there's also a story of a man who sought redemption and continues to grow in front of everybody's eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>All stats courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/\">Pro Football Reference<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/\">Sports Reference<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alvin Kamara is one of the most dynamic players in the NFL. However, his football future was very much in jeopardy during college.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":231,"featured_media":1266604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4969,5100],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Alvin Kamara&#039;s College Career Was Almost Over Before It Started - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alvin Kamara is one of the most dynamic players in the NFL. However, his football future was very much in jeopardy during college.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alvin Kamara's College Career Was Almost Over Before It Started\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alvin Kamara is one of the most dynamic players in the NFL. However, his football future was very much in jeopardy during college.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-13T22:02:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-13T22:04:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"833\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bradley Geiser\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bradley Geiser\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/\",\"name\":\"Alvin Kamara's College Career Was Almost Over Before It Started - Sports7\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-13T22:02:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-13T22:04:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/94321ed180c4367a6efeeb708bdbf699\"},\"description\":\"Alvin Kamara is one of the most dynamic players in the NFL. However, his football future was very much in jeopardy during college.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg\",\"width\":1250,\"height\":833,\"caption\":\"Alvin Kamara jogs onto the field before a game against the Tennessee Titans | Wesley Hitt\/Getty Images\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Alvin Kamara's College Career Was Almost Over Before It Started\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/\",\"name\":\"Sports7\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/94321ed180c4367a6efeeb708bdbf699\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/bradley-geiser\/\",\"name\":\"Bradley Geiser\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a576ca72113b04f9abe817bab8636a85?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a576ca72113b04f9abe817bab8636a85?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bradley Geiser\"},\"description\":\"Bradley Geiser has been a contributing writer since 2019 and works with content for MotorBiscuit and Sports7. He earned his bachelor's degree in English literature and English creative writing from UC Davis.\",\"jobTitle\":\"Bradley Geiser | Sports7 Contributing Writer\",\"email\":\"\",\"sameAs\":[\"\",\"\",\"\",\"\",\"\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alvin Kamara's College Career Was Almost Over Before It Started - Sports7","description":"Alvin Kamara is one of the most dynamic players in the NFL. However, his football future was very much in jeopardy during college.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alvin Kamara's College Career Was Almost Over Before It Started","og_description":"Alvin Kamara is one of the most dynamic players in the NFL. However, his football future was very much in jeopardy during college.","og_url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/","og_site_name":"Sports7","article_published_time":"2020-11-13T22:02:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-11-13T22:04:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1250,"height":833,"url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bradley Geiser","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bradley Geiser","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/","name":"Alvin Kamara's College Career Was Almost Over Before It Started - Sports7","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg","datePublished":"2020-11-13T22:02:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-13T22:04:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/94321ed180c4367a6efeeb708bdbf699"},"description":"Alvin Kamara is one of the most dynamic players in the NFL. However, his football future was very much in jeopardy during college.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Alvin-Kamara-Saints.jpg","width":1250,"height":833,"caption":"Alvin Kamara jogs onto the field before a game against the Tennessee Titans | Wesley Hitt\/Getty Images"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/alvin-kamaras-college-career-was-almost-over-before-it-started\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Alvin Kamara's College Career Was Almost Over Before It Started"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/","name":"Sports7","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/94321ed180c4367a6efeeb708bdbf699","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/bradley-geiser\/","name":"Bradley Geiser","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a576ca72113b04f9abe817bab8636a85?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a576ca72113b04f9abe817bab8636a85?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bradley Geiser"},"description":"Bradley Geiser has been a contributing writer since 2019 and works with content for MotorBiscuit and Sports7. He earned his bachelor's degree in English literature and English creative writing from UC Davis.","jobTitle":"Bradley Geiser | Sports7 Contributing Writer","email":"","sameAs":["","","","",""]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1266600"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1266600"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1266600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1267838,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1266600\/revisions\/1267838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1266604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1266600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1266600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1266600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}