Former Bulldog All-American Jake Visser is still hop­ing for a chance to play in the NFL.

After get­ting a chance at an NFL career with the Houston Texans, for­mer Ferris State defen­sive tackle Jake Visser is with­out a team after being released by the Texans two weeks ago to make ros­ter space.

Visser, a two-time NCAA Division II All-American and Academic All-American, was released by the Houston Texans on Aug. 6. Visser went undrafted in Aprils NFL draft, but signed a free-agent con­tract with the Texans 72 hours after the draft. Visser had been par­tic­i­pat­ing in the Texans off-season pro­gram and tak­ing part in the Texans’ train­ing camp.

The Texans released Visser to open a ros­ter spot after start­ing cor­ner­back Jacques Reeves suf­fered a frac­tured fibula dur­ing a prac­tice ses­sion. The team then signed vet­eran cor­ner­back Deltha O’Neal to help bol­ster their sud­denly depleted defen­sive back­field, which has only one healthy vet­eran cor­ner­back in Fred Bennett.

Photo Courtesy of FSU Photo ServicesFace It: Jake Visser will now be on the waiver wire.

Visser will now hit the NFL waiver wire, where any team can claim him and add him to their ros­ter, with­out hav­ing to re-negotiate a con­tract with him. If more than one team tries to claim Visser, the team with the worst record would be awarded his rights. The Texans can also reclaim Visser and place him back on their roster.

“My agent has been in con­tact with a cou­ple of teams, but I haven’t heard any­thing per­son­ally from any teams though,” said Visser.

Visser had aspi­ra­tions for an NFL career, but he also had planned for a career out­side of foot­ball. Visser has one class left to take before he can grad­u­ate with a degree in sec­ondary edu­ca­tion and has aspi­ra­tions to become a teacher.

“I’m going to keep my focus on work­ing towards a degree so I can move on with a career in teach­ing,” said Visser.

For now, Visser will have to wait and see if he gets another chance with an NFL fran­chise or if he will have to move on with a career in edu­ca­tion.
“I’m going to keep work­ing towards a career in foot­ball and con­tinue to stay in play­ing shape for the next year or two so that if I get the call from a team, I’ll be ready,” said Visser.

Photo Courtesy of FSU Photo ServicesDropping In: Former DT Jake Visser mak­ing a tackle against Saginaw Valley on November 8^th, 2008.