When Ryan Torain prepared in May to take the practice field for the first time as a professional football player with the Denver Broncos, he took a moment to let everything sink in.
“I’m looking at guys that I watched when I was growing up on TV,”
he remembered. “I was like, ‘I’m really here. I’m really doing it’.”
A 2004 graduate of Shawnee Mission Northwest, and current Olathe resident, Torain left his mark as arguably the most dynamic offensive threat in the school’s history – rushing for more than 1,600 yards during his senior season, and being named to the All-Class 6A and All-Sunflower League first teams.
Normally, a player with his natural athletic gifts and ability would be swarmed with college recruiters eager to obtain his commitment, but Torain flew under the radar.
He lacked a few core classes, he said, and most of the nearby Division 1 football programs – including Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, and Nebraska – showed little interest.
Opting to spend two years at junior college football powerhouse Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan., Torain made a name for himself as an explosive, punishing runner. By the time he wrapped up his Grizzlies career in 2005, multiple BCS-conference schools came calling.
A connection between the Butler County coaching staff and Arizona State University led Torain to the Sun Devils, and a visit to the Tempe campus.
“I went out on a visit and I loved it,”
he said. “I only went on one other visit after that, and I was just like ‘Forget it, I like Arizona. That’s where I want to be’.”
As he had at every other level, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound running back made an immediate impact in the ultra-competitive Pac-10 Conference, including a 191-yard outburst versus California in his first conference game.
Torain finished his junior season with 1,229 yards yards on the ground and seven touchdowns, earning him a spot on the Pac-10 second team. His senior year promised even greater accomplishments, and five games into the 2007 season he seemed well on his way to meeting his own lofty expectations.
One play, however, changed everything.
Torain suffered a season-ending foot injury versus Washington in the sixth game of the year.
“It was traumatizing, but I stayed around great people and they kept motivating me,”
he said. “I stayed positive. There would be times where I’d get down, but I stayed around my teammates – kept laughing, kept joking.”
The athletic and educational support systems that had been the key factors in Torain’s decision to become a Sun Devil played a critical role during the months of rehabilitation that followed surgery on his injured foot. By staying positive, Torain was able to focus on getting himself into shape for the NFL combine, and his lifelong dream of a career in professional football.
When the Broncos selected him in the fifth round of April’s 2008 NFL draft, it was much lower than he would likely have gone without the injury – though nothing could dampen his excitement.
“I was trying to stay calm talking on the phone, but I just had a huge smile, my arms were flailing all over the place,”
Torain said of his reaction when his name was called. “I was with my brother, with family. It was amazing.”
Now the real work begins, as the Broncos look toward pre-season training camp and Torain works to live up to the lucrative contract he signed earlier this month.
An NFL career means that football is now officially his job, and he is trying to treat it as such, though the former Cougar also keeps everything in perspective.
It is, after all, still the game he loves.
“Working out, playing football – that’s my job?”
he said. “That’s nothing. That’s easy.”
