“I’ll take it,’’ Ninkovich said. “That wouldn’t be a bad thing. I’d take that with open arms. But I’ve still got to keep continuing to perform.’’
Ninkovich’s story of obscurity to security is well-known. The Saints and Dolphins both passed on him. He landed in New England, where he worked his way up from fighting for time on special teams to earning a two-year, $4 million contract extension in September.
Ninkovich is used to the anonymity, as well as the slack-jawed surprise when he makes plays.
“It’s kind of been like that since I’ve been in high school, though, so it’s no new thing for me,’’ he said. “I just kind of go out there and play the best I can, and at the end of the game look back and see what I’ve done.’’
The story of his hands actually goes back to his days at Lincoln-Way Central High School in New Lenox, Ill., where he played tight end, running back, and defensive end.
“I caught a lot out of the backfield,’’ he said.
His path to a secure spot in the NFL wasn’t the easiest. No colleges made him offers out of high school, so he went to junior college in Joliet, Ill. After two years, he transferred to Purdue, even though it didn’t offer him a scholarship.
When he got there, he wasn’t even on the defensive side of the ball. He was a tight end, buried on the depth chart. By the time he left, he was a second-team All-Big Ten defensive end.
The Saints drafted him in the fifth round in 2006, then waived him a year later after he missed much of the year with a strained medial collateral ligament. That’s when the Dolphins found him, but he played only five games in parts of two seasons in Miami.
He probably went out on the longest limb when he decided long snapping for the Saints was the way to carve out a place for himself. He hated it, but felt it had to be done.
