For ex-Arizona Wildcat Stanley Berryhill, 1st year in NFL was a 'surreal experience'

For the first time since the summer going into his final season at Arizona, Stanley Berryhill III can relax a little bit.

The last year for the former Wildcats receiver included preparation for the NFL draft, signing with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent, getting cut after preseason, signing with the local Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad, getting cut again, then signing with the Detroit Lions for the remainder of the season.

After producing on special teams, primarily as a “gunner” on punt coverage, Berryhill signed a future contract with the Lions for this upcoming season.

“This offseason is most important because it’s the real offseason,” Berryhill said. “My uncle and a couple of mentors told me last May, ‘You know, this is going to be the roughest year you’ve had. You went from playing a college season straight to combine training, straight from combine training (to) rookie camp, straight from rookie mini-camp to so far and so on. I think having this offseason is going to make a huge difference in the way I prepare.”

Berryhill spoke with “Spears and Ali” on ESPN Tucson about his first year in the NFL, playing for uber-passionate Dan Campbell and how much special teams has helped his career.

A video surfaced of you in November having a conversation with Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on the sideline against the Bears, and you were in disbelief about how talented everyone in the NFL is. What type of reaction did you receive from that?

A: “That video, I didn’t even know it was a video, I thought it was just a genuine conversation with St. Brown. I didn’t even know he was mic’d up or recording. I go on my phone after the game, my phone is blowing up. ‘Did you see the video of you on such and such?’ I watched it and was like man. ...

“But the NFL is crazy. It’s very unpredictable, and you never know what’s going to happen. Everyone is so good; (it’s) the top players from every college or every other league they have in the world, like people from the Canadian Football League or Division III colleges, Division I colleges. After one year in the NFL, it’s unreal. You’ll never experience nothing like it. I don’t think I’ll ever experience something like my first year ever again. It was a surreal experience, and I can’t wait to get after it in this new season.”

What was it like for you between the time the Falcons waived you until the time Detroit signed you?

A: “I got cut from the Falcons after the last preseason game during the last cuts, so I barely missed making the team. I was out for about three weeks to a month, and I didn’t have a team, so I was back in Tucson. I was on the brink of going to the CFL and I was talking to a team, had the contract ready and everything, but then I got a call from the Cardinals and was asked if I could do a tryout the next week. So I went up to Phoenix, did the tryout, they signed me to their practice squad, and I was on the Cardinals for about a month until (DeAndre Hopkins) came (back) from suspension. They also needed to sign a new kicker.

“They cut me and told me they were going to call me back, but before they had a chance to call me back and I hit the waiver wire, I get a call at like 5-6 p.m. from the Detroit Lions to be on a red-eye flight to try out for them the next morning. So I wasn’t even going to wait around for the Cardinals, I was going to take this chance.

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“(I) jump on the red-eye flight, land in Detroit at 6:30 a.m., get picked up, go straight from the airport to get physicals and going through all the paper work. Then I tried out just after 7 a.m., so I didn’t really have much sleep because I was on the plane the whole night.

“After I tried out, they gave me a quick tour of the facility, told me I made the team and then I went to practice with the Lions that day at 1 p.m. So in that 24 hours, I had two practices with two different teams, got cut from a team and signed with another team.

“Like I said, it’s unexpected and you never know what’s going to happen. When I got that call from Detroit, I knew it was my opportunity go make something happen.”

Last season, the Lions were on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” during training camp, and head coach Dan Campbell demonstrated his charisma and passion. How would you describe playing for a coach like him?

A: “Coach Campbell is one of a kind. He knows every single person’s name in the building. He’s a guy you want to play for and a guy you want to be around. He’s a player’s coach, and he doesn’t sugarcoat anything and loves everyone around him. ...

“Coach Campbell talks with so much passion, sometimes you think he’s about to start crying because he just cares so much.”

How much did your contributions on special teams at the UA help you land opportunities in the NFL?

A: “When you hear from former players at the U of A, a lot of them have a harder route to play, so special teams is how you get on the field. Dane Cruikshank, after his first year, he FaceTimed the team and talked about special teams. Then we talked to Demetrius (Flannigan-Fowles) and he talked about special teams, so it’s a trend, and you hear coaches talk about it.

“When (Jedd) Fisch came in, he talked about the best players on special teams. ... They told me that and it sunk in, so I had to get as much film as possible. So when NFL teams look at me, they know I can do more than just catch the ball.”