Rod Smith reaches into his locker and pulls out a simple gray T-shirt.

To him, it means as much as the shiny No. 80 jersey he has donned for the Broncos the previous 12 seasons.

"I'm very partial to these guys," he says, displaying the front of the shirt that reads "Undrafted Player."

"We kind of have a little bond . . . because, honestly, it's totally different territory than the guys who came from Miami and were the No. 1 pick. We gotta stay together and show 'em we can play as well."

That they have done, with 12 undrafted players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a few more likely headed there.

Last year, 10 undrafted players went to the Pro Bowl. This year, they're stealing some of the biggest headlines.

In San Diego, Antonio Gates is on pace to break every NFL record for tight ends in only his fifth season with the Chargers.

In Dallas, Tony Romo is drawing comparisons with Hall of Famer Roger Staubach, even if he couldn't keep pace Sunday with Tom Brady.

And in Pittsburgh, Willie Parker is tearing up the yards in huge chunks, even though he couldn't crack the starting lineup in college.

"We're going to ride Willie until the wheels fall off," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said last month.

That hasn't happened, not with Parker boasting 17 100-yard games in 44 games.

There's a good chance "Fast Willie," who led the league with 507 rushing yards going into the Steelers' bye last week, will get No. 18 against the Broncos' 32nd-ranked rush defense (187.6 yards a game) Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High (6:15 p.m., KUSA-Channel 9.

How did a guy like Parker slip through the cracks? Or Romo, Gates or the other top players, including Smith, the Broncos' all-time leader in touchdowns and receptions.

"There's always guys who came from obscure colleges or are playing a different position, or whatever," said Gil Brandt, senior writer for NFL.com and former personnel director for the Cowboys. "Every year, there are 25 to 30 free agents who make it."

This year, there were 354 undrafted players on opening-day rosters, including 15 for the Broncos. (That does not include Smith, who is on the physically unable to perform list after offseason left hip surgery.)

Four are starters (Matt Lepsis, Cecil Sapp, Nick Ferguson and Erik Pears) and running backs Mike Bell and Selvin Young could see a lot more playing time depending on how Travis Henry fares in his appeal of a possible drug suspension.

"I've always had opportunities in my life, and every time they've come, I've been there, hungry, ready to accept the challenge," said Young, whose college career at Texas was derailed by injuries, including a shattered right ankle in 2004. "Maybe it's because I have to go the back route every time that keeps me hungry, keeps me looking forward to the next step and better things."

'Fast Willie'

Parker came from a small high school in North Carolina but mostly was a backup for the Tar Heels after new coach John Bunting sat him in favor of a bulkier back. Then, at his pro day, Brandt said, Parker didn't turn in a typical "Fast Willie" time.

The Steelers, though, took a chance on him as an undrafted player on the advice of scout Dan Rooney, son of the team's chairman and grandson of Steelers founder Art Rooney who lives in North Carolina and had kept tabs on Parker since high school.

"Sometimes we have so many players of equal ability and sometimes if you go to the right team, it helps you become a better player," Brandt said. "Pittsburgh likes to run the ball and he was an inside runner."

Even Pittsburgh didn't think Parker (5-foot-10, 209 pounds) had the ability to do what he has done.

Parker mostly was a backup to Jerome Bettis and didn't get much of a chance to show what he could do until the 2004 regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills.

The Steelers, having clinched home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs with a 14-1 record, decided to rest their starters.

That day, Parker came off the bench to rush 19 times for 102 yards, including a 58-yard run that set up the winning score.

The next year, the top job was his and he didn't disappoint, rushing for 1,202 yards and dashing into the record books with a 75-yard touchdown run against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.

Last year, he gained 1,494 yards and made his first Pro Bowl.

Since 2005, Parker has had 25 runs of 20 yards or more. He also is the only Steelers back to rush for more than 200 yards twice in a season. And his 337 carries in 2006 rank fourth most in team history.

"He's a complete back," Tomlin said, dispelling the myth Parker was too slight to handle the heavy-duty inside work. "He runs inside. He runs outside. He gets a lot of credit for his speed, and he's very fast, but he's a tough runner. He gets tough yards. He's a competitor. He gets better with each carry."

Tony's time

Unlike Parker, who wasn't invited to the NFL scouting combine, Romo attended in 2003. But he wasn't one of the 16 to 18 quarterbacks asked to strut their stuff.

Romo instead was called to be the bullpen pitcher - the guy who throws passes to linebackers and defensive backs during workouts.

"He's been a guy who's been overlooked all his life," Brandt said. "He was from a small town in Wisconsin, and a better basketball player than football player in high school."

He only made it to Eastern Illinois when the father of one of the coaches saw a story about Romo in the Racine Journal and forwarded it to his son.

After going undrafted in the pros, Romo waited 51 games for his first start, backing up players such as Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson, Drew Henson, Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe.

When Bledsoe faltered in a Monday night game last year, then-coach Bill Parcells called on Romo to take over.

He was player of the month his first full month on the job, helped the Cowboys to the playoffs and had them off to a 5-0 start this season until they ran into the undefeated New England Patriots.

Though Romo couldn't match Brady in just his 17th NFL start Sunday, there are signs the undrafted quarterback from Burlington, Wis., might one day.

"He has this playground mentality about the game, and he's so confident that nothing really bothers him," former Cowboys center Al Johnson told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Game-breaker

Like Romo, Gates was a two-sport star in high school, earning all-state in football and basketball in Detroit. But he ended up at a junior college after becoming a Proposition 48 casualty, then went to Kent State to play basketball. It was clear then he was a classic 'tweener.

"He wasn't a guard or a power forward, so he realized the best thing he could do was resurrect his football career," Brandt said.

Brandt said pro scouts discovered Gates by inquiring at Kent State's athletic office if there were any basketball players who might make it in football.

"Nineteen teams tried to sign him," Brandt said. "San Diego was fortunate that they were the winner of the derby."

In 2004, Gates caught 13 touchdown passes. In 2005, he topped the 1,000-yard mark with 89 catches for 1,101 yards. Last year, he went to his third straight Pro Bowl.

While the Broncos never heard of Gates before he hit it big with San Diego, they have seen enough of him lately. In the past two games against them, Gates has 14 catches for 217 yards and three touchdowns.

"Him being the best tight end in the game right now, I don't think that's an argument," Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said. "I think you can argue about him being the best (receiver)."

Smith wasn't rooting for Gates in those games, nor will he be rooting for Parker on Sunday.

But when they're not playing the Broncos, he's proud to have them in his unofficial club. After all, he knows what mentality it took to make it in the NFL as an undrafted player.

"You always want (teams) to feel that somebody (messed) up because out of all those teams, out of all those scouts and all those draft picks, you're telling me I wasn't as good as 200-and-some people to at least get drafted as Mr. Irrelevant," said Smith, who went undrafted out of Division II Missouri Southern but has 849 receptions, 11,389 yards, 68 touchdowns and two Super Bowl rings.

"You want to go out there and say not only am I going to prove all the scouts wrong, but I want to prove that the team that gave me a chance was right."

Game breaker

Against Dallas on Sunday, New England's Wes Welker put up gaudier numbers than Randy Moss, with 124 yards and two touchdowns on 11 catches against the Cowboys.

So how did he end up going undrafted?

Though he put up huge numbers in Texas Tech's high-octane offense, scouts didn't like his size (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) or his speed (he ran a 4.67 second for 40 yards).

So he signed with San Diego, was cut after the first week and plucked off the Chargers practice squad by Miami. There, he established himself on special teams, then as a slot receiver.

New England acquired him in March from Miami in exchange for two draft picks (second- and seventh-rounders in 2007).

"He's a threat anytime he's out there," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said. "He's elusive, he's very quick, he's very smart and he makes a lot of guys miss."

debruinl@RockyMountainNews.com

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