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High school football: Former Trojan gets his shot
KEN LANE
Steven Octavien watches from the Kansas City Chiefs sidelines, waiting the opportunity to show his skills on the professional football stage, last Saturday night, as the Chiefs visit the Miami Dolphins. The Chiefs fell to the Dolphins, 24-0.
KEN LANE
Lely High School graduate Steven Octavien fights for his spot on the roster for the Kansas City Chiefs during a visit to the Miami Dolphins Aug. 23. The Chiefs found themselves on the losing side of a 24-0 preseason shutout.
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Lely High coach Steve Pricer has a picture of Steve Octavien in the Trojans locker room. He wants the players who wear the school’s colors this year -- and beyond -- to realize that football after high school is within their grasp.
The young man in the photo is proof.
After starring for Lely as a do-it-all teenager, Octavien played two seasons of junior college ball before spending three years at Nebraska as an outside linebacker. He’s now in camp with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent, looking to become the first Lely grad to make an NFL roster.
“The whole Octavien family has been through this school,” Pricer said. “It would be a great thing to see him make it.”
The answer will come soon enough, as NFL teams enter the stretch run of the preseason.
Octavien was still on the roster as of this past Wednesday and had made five tackles in Kansas City’s three preseason games. He registered one tackle in last Saturday night’s loss to Miami in Dolphin Stadium, where a contingent of roughly 20 family members cheered for the Naples export.
“He’s had a long road to get here,” said Dayana Octavien, Steve’s sister. “To come out of that and have an opportunity to play at the highest level says a lot about him.”
Dayana Octavien, for one, knows the pressures that come with competing at a high level. The former University of South Florida track and field standout recently made a bid for the Olympics, where she failed to qualify in the discus.
And she knows the stress involved.
But when the family met Steve in front of the team bus following Saturday night’s game, Dayana Octavien said her brother didn’t let on that he was feeling the heat. She said that’s just his nature.
“We never talk about sports,” Dayana said. “He just said he was happy to see us and asked that we keep him in our prayers.”
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