When Paul Coffman was young and growing up in the tiny town of Chase, he told anyone willing to listen about his dream. He wanted to play in the NFL.
But few encouraged him to chase the goal. In a rural community populated by friends that spent their days working in oil fields, the NFL seemed unattainable. They all thought his dream was unusual, and they made sure he knew how strange it was.
“They laughed at me,” Coffman says now. “They said, ‘You will be working here for the rest of your life.