NFL Practice Squad Players Are Only a Hit Away; Taxi Drivers Too?

The NFL practice squad is a place where ego, personality, and even specific skills are often times checked at the door. But, it still beats driving a taxi for a living.

The origins of the NFL practice squad dates back to the 1940's, when rosters were set at a 33-player limit. What is known today as the "practice squad" was originally called a "taxi squad."

The reason for the name stems to coach Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns. In a clever twist to the NFL's imposed roster limit, Brown found a way to keep extra players for practice purposes by keeping them on the team payroll by funneling their paychecks through a taxi company owned by Browns' owner Mickey McBride.

Contrary to rumors that the players actually worked for McBride's taxi company, the "taxi squad" players never actually drove taxis. In essence, the idea behind the practice squad was formed on a loop-hole in NFL rules.

According to the NFL, practice squad players made a minimum salary of $5,200 per week; $88,400 per season. Some players, especially drafted rookies who failed to make the squad, tend to salaries that are comparable to the rookie minimum of $285,000.

But is the money enough to make it worthwhile?

Most practice squad duties involve more acting than competing. Players are generally used to mimic opponents' tendencies and run upcoming opponents' playbooks. This certainly squashes the idea of a player using his skills to wow the coaches and front office brass.

It's not an easy task to always prepare but never actually employ the hours of preparation. In the NFL, Sunday (and sometimes Thursday, Saturday, and Monday) is payday. The idea of contributing on game-day is what motivates the inner-competitor; it lights the fire. So how can that be done when the payoff doesn't seem near?

In some instances, players like former Broncos star Rod Smith, and Super Bowl MVP James Harrison have went from practice squad bodies to high-paid NFL superstars. And, with the possibility of the NFL moving to 18 regular season games, the rosters are sure to be expanded from 53-players to somewhere around 65.

With an inflated talent-pool, the opportunity to see the field could be closer than ever for most practice squad players. Even if the NFL increased rosters to only 60 players, that accounts for 224 more jobs to be had.

But before getting ahead of ourselves, let's focus on the current state of NFL rosters.

In Baltimore, coach John Harbaugh has adopted the "next man up" theory, in which the team quickly moves on from injury or adversity and plugs in players who are ready for the opportunity. Thus, lending credibility to the theory that players on the practice squad are only a one hit, one contract dispute, or on injury away from contributing on Sunday.

In addition to this, there's also the fact that someone else could be watching. Practice squad players are unprotected property.

Any player on a team's practice squad may be picked another team as long as the acquired player is placed and kept on the official 53-man roster. This is something that happens tends to happen throughout the season; especially when the injury bug begins to hit contending teams and they're looking for NFL-ready help at critical-need positions.

Not everyone makes it to Sunday. But with the aforementioned possibility of the roster expansion, not only will practice squad players have a shot to be mainstays--Taxi drivers may too.