GREEN BAY - Mere months before he grabbed a touchdown pass from Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers under the lights at Chicago's Soldier Field, tight end Dominique Dafney grabbed IDs as a bouncer at 300 Craft & Rooftop, a bar in Des Moines, Iowa.
Dafney’s routine had become monotonous — wake up, lift weights, go home, eat, wait for a life-changing phone call from an NFL team looking to give him a chance to live out his dream of playing professional football.
So, he took the bouncer gig to shake up the daily grind. But it didn’t last long. The Packers called him in mid-October and offered him a practice squad spot.
“I just texted in our group message, ‘Hey, I'm leaving,’” Dafney said. “’Cause the Packers called me.’ And (my boss) was like, ‘Nope, I get it. You don't have to come to work tonight.’ I'm like, ‘Yep, I probably shouldn't.’ And then I was gone the next day.”