Like the rest of his teammates, Stephen Weatherly said he was “shocked” on Saturday when he heard the Vikings were releasing Brian Robison.
The reality of the NFL is an ascension like the 24-year-old Weatherly’s, who had 1.5 sacks in the preseason en route to earning playing time this fall, added to the reasons why Robison became expendable to the Vikings. But Weatherly, a former seventh-round pick, said he owes just about all of it to Robison.
“Honestly, everything,” Weatherly recalled in a phone interview this weekend.
Seventh rounders like Weatherly are barely given the job security assumed by NFL draft picks.