This one’s for the dreamers, for the schemers — for anyone who chased their life’s ambition to a soundtrack of slamming doors and regular heartache, year after year.
Michael Palardy tried out with 28 NFL teams without success. He was cut by the then-Oakland Raiders the day after an appendectomy. He didn’t stick in a mass tryout with the Miami Dolphins. He was cut by the Ottawa Roughriders because of the Canadian league’s allowed ratio of Americans.
For three empty years, Palardy kept the dream alive with the paycheck of his wife, Lexie, and substitute teaching at his former school, St.