BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Two Bakersfield natives are creating their own paths in the NFL in two different ways.<\/p>\n
Former Independence High and Kansas State standout DJ Reed has become a household name for NFL teams, from the 49ers to the Detroit Lions. For Reed, the last eight years have been a whirlwind, but April 28, 2018, was a day he will never forget.<\/p>\n
“All the emotions just poured down on me. I didn’t want to cry because I was with my family, I was with my friends. I wasn’t trying to cry, but just was overwhelmed with a lot of emotions. And, yeah, man, it was a dream come true,” Reed said.<\/p>\n
Though it was a day he will never forget, Reed is hoping to continue to tack on more memories at the highest level of football for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
“I told myself that my goal is to get to a decade, and not only get to 10 years in the league, but I want to play at a high level 10 years in the league, and I feel like I’ve done that, and I still feel like I have more to give, and I still feel like my best season has not come yet,” Reed said.<\/p>\n
Former Foothill High and Arizona State kicker Jon Baker took a different route. Baker, like many who make their way onto NFL rosters, did not get a call during the draft, but rather after it to sign as an undrafted free agent. While every NFL player gets their welcome to the NFL moment, Baker’s came after a workout.<\/p>\n
“He said, ‘Okay, well, how long are you going to pursue this thing?’ And my thought was, well, that wasn’t really, hey, I’m going to give it a few years. That wasn’t really in my thought. I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to kick in the NFL next year.’ He’s like, ‘Well, you know, you got to get in the right place the right time,'” Baker said.<\/p>\n
Baker saw a bit of time in the NFL, bouncing around NFL Europe and playing in Canada before hanging up the cleats in the early 2000s. Now, after his playing career, Baker has spent the last two decades on the bargaining side of the table as an agent. Working as the vice president for Pro Star Sports Agency, he said in the past, these three days were chaos, but now it is just part of the gig.<\/p>\n
“Been on this side of the table in the agency for 23 years now. So we know what this process looks like. There’s a lot of outside noise that we don’t pay attention to, and so we’ve got a pretty, pretty tight operation or process on our end in terms of: how do we find the best opportunity for players?” Baker said.<\/p>\n
For fans watching the draft unfold who think their team’s upper management dropped the ball, they can just watch what teams do in free agency.<\/p>\n
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n
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