A fourth-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2014, linebacker Khairi Fortt bounced between three different teams and played in just three regular season games before finding himself out of a job last season.
Fortt is now trying to take advantage of another opportunity to play NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.
According to John Nash of the Stamford Advocate, Fortt isn’t taking this chance for granted.
“I’m forever grateful to get this opportunity,” Fortt said. “It’s going to be great to be out there with a great group of guys and a coach who cares about his players more than the sport itself. That’s really what I love about the team and the environment around it.”
Seattle signed Fortt in May after undrafted free agent linebacker Christian French suffered an injury in practice and landed on injured reserve. Fortt has been limited in practice as well throughout OTAs and mini-camp due to a sore Achilles.
Fortt was placed on the reserve/designated to return injured list by the Saints at the conclusion of training camp in 2014. However, the Saints dumped him due to missing multiple team meetings and he never suited up in a regular season game for the franchise. After a stint on the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad, Fortt was signed the Jacksonville Jaguars active roster and appeared in three games.
Fortt believes he can still live up to the potential the Saints saw in him when they selected him in the second round out of California in 2014.
“I envision myself becoming a Pro Bowler and I have to take the necessary steps to do that,” Fortt said. “One step is getting back on the football field, not feeling sorry for myself and just going out there and putting in the effort to reach those milestones.”
Fortt has an uphill climb to make Seattle’s roster but few teams are as open to long shots making their roster and contributing as the Seahawks.
