Southeast Alum Sanders Hoping to Earn Roster Spot with NFL's Baltimore Ravens

A young Terron Sanders sat on the sideline, frustrated and upset, looking on as other kids his age practiced and played with the East Manatee Bulldogs’ youth football team.

Both of Sanders’ brothers had played for the team, his father had served as the athletic director for it, his mother as the secretary and his sister had even been a cheerleader for the Bulldogs.

Yet Sanders was forced to just sit and watch, unable to participate as he was over the weight limit for his age group. In fact, just to be around the team, Sanders served as the Bulldogs’ water-boy for several years.

But for as frustrating as it was to not be able to play, Sanders says his father would constantly remind him, “Your time will come and you’ll get your opportunity to shine.”

His father was right.

Although he wasn’t able to start playing organized football until high school, Sanders, now a 6-foot-1, 310 pound defensive tackle, eventually used that size to his advantage, excelling at Southeast High School before moving on to the University of Florida, where he became a three-year starter for the Gators, who won a BCS National Championship in 2008.

He went unselected in April’s NFL draft, but was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in late July and is currently in the midst of his first NFL training camp.

“It’s great to be out here,” Sanders said. “It’s more than I could’ve ever imagined. I’ve always thought about it, and have always said I wanted to be here, but actually being here is surreal.”

Sanders joins a Ravens’ defense consistently touted as one of the NFL’s best, led by perennial Pro Bowlers Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata.

“It’s hard not to be struck by the fact that you’re in the presence of those guys,” Sanders said. “But it’s a great opportunity and you’ve got to stay focused. We’ve got a lot of Pro Bowlers out here and I’m just trying to learn how they work and learn their system.”

A four-year starter in high school, Sanders earned second-team all-state honors as a junior in 2004. He played in just one game his senior year, however, sustaining a knee injury during the second game of the season which required surgery. This would begin a nasty string of injuries for Sanders, which would carry all the way through his time at Florida.

He reinjured his knee, again needing surgery, prior to his freshman season with the Gators in 2006, hurt his knee again after the 2007 season, once again requiring surgery, and sustained a serious knee injury, a torn ACL, in an accident following his junior season in 2009, which once again forced him to undergo surgery. He then tore the labrum in his shoulder early in his senior season, although he waited to have surgery until late in the regular season.

Sanders finished his Florida career with 63 tackles, including 11 tackles for a loss, and two fumble recoveries in 43 games played.

“There was a certain time when I felt like the injury bug was ingrained in me and wouldn’t come out,” Sanders said. “I look at the injuries as life lessons now, though, and I’m fortunate to have made it this far and to have found a team that’s given me a chance.”

Now, Sanders is looking forward to taking advantage of that chance.

The Ravens, currently with 90 players on their team, will trim their roster down to 53 players by the start of the regular season. Sanders hopes to be one of those 53, and says he will spend training camp and the preseason trying to prove to Baltimore’s coaches that he’s worthy of a spot on the Ravens’ defensive line.

“I just want to wow the coaches,” Sanders said. “I want to show them that I can give them what they’re asking for and that I can play football with the best of them. This is an opportunity I’m trying to capitalize on”