There are many paths to the NFL and Shaq Roland hopes his long and winding road in college will lead to a steady gig in the NFL.
Roland has received an invitation to the Chicago Bears rookie mini-camp, according to the West Georgia athletics department web site. West Georgia is where Roland finished up his college career which included several stops along the way.
The former Mr. Football out of Lexington caught five passes for 80 yards and one touchdown in his freshman season of 2012.
As a sophomore, he caught 25 passes for 455 yards with five touchdowns. He had hopes for his junior year of 2014 where he did register 26 catches for 356 yards and four touchdowns. But he was suspended a game for missing a team flight and had other games where he didn't see any action. When the Gamecocks arrived in Shreveport for the Independence Bowl, head coach Steve Spurrier announced that Roland was no longer with the team.
That's when Roland's career took several turns as he enrolled a Prairie View A&M and Winston Salem State. After not playing football at either school, he landed at the University of West Georgia in Carrolton, Georgia which is roughly an hour from Atlanta and 45 minutes from the Alabama state line.
In his only season with the UWG program, Roland was fourth in the Gulf South conference in receptions and receiving yards, hauling in 55 passes for 722 yards as a senior. He was tied for third in the league with six touchdown receptions and was named First Team All-Gulf South Conference.
Now the former Parade All-American hopes to make a positive impression in the Windy City and show the Chicago coaches he has NFL capability.