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Five years ago, Greg Toler played in the Western Virginia Education Classic at Victory Stadium. Now he's playing in the NFL. Toler is the only player in NFL history to be drafted out of St. Paul's, an NCAA Division II college in Lawrenceville that plays its home football games at a high school.
The second-year pro, who starts at cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals, is one of four ex-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association players in the NFL. "Where I came from was a tough road traveled, but ... it built me into who I am," Toler said in a phone interview from Arizona. "Coming from a small school, it's going to teach you respect and it's going to humble you. "It made me stronger in certain ways, those tough times playing on a rough field, playing on one pair of cleats." St. Paul's will play Bowie State in this year's WVEC at 1 p.m. Saturday at William Fleming. Toler played in the WVEC in 2005, which was the college's first year of varsity football since 1988. "St. Paul's is definitely a big part of my life, giving me the opportunity to come down there and hone my education and groom me as a man," said Toler, who is from suburban Washington, D.C. "St. Paul's is dear to my heart when I come out here and strap up my cleats." Toler and his brother were raised by their mother. "She told us, 'Anything is possible,' " Toler, 25, said. Toler excelled on the gridiron at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Md., but he struggled in the classroom. "I wasn't focused on my books as much as I should've been and a lot of the [ college] offers pulled back," he said. After graduating from high school in 2004, he spent the summer stocking shelves at a J.C. Penney. He also played that summer for a Washington team in an adult league, and the squad's coach told St. Paul's defensive coordinator Kevin Grisby about him. Because St. Paul's only had a club team in 2004, NCAA academic eligibility rules were not an issue. So Toler played club football that fall -- and paid more attention to his schoolwork. "We got a lot of guys like that, who were able to come in here and get their academics together that year," Grisby said. By the time the school upgraded to varsity football in 2005, Toler was in good shape academically. "I messed up a little bit in high school, so once I got my second opportunity, I [couldn't] mess it up again," said Toler, who has earned his degree. "I don't know where I'd be if Coach Grisby didn't grab me when I was coming into this college, just trying to mold me as a man. Being away from home, you can get unfocused. Coach Grisby, he kept a strong hold on me. I used to look at it like, 'He's always on my back,' but I see what he was saying. I'm grateful." Toler played four years of varsity football at St. Paul's, where he was a three-time All-CIAA first-team pick. He had 51 tackles and six interceptions as a senior, when he was named the state small- college defensive player of the year by The Roanoke Times. Grisby "just told me, 'You just stay focused and anything's possible,' " Toler said. Arizona took Toler in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. "I remember it like it was yesterday when I first got here," Toler said. "Seeing Larry Fitzgerald and guys like Adrian Wilson for the first time, it was mind-blowing. I was like, 'I can't believe I'm here.' "You watch 'SportsCenter' all through college, seeing these guys for so long. Now my locker's right next to Adrian Wilson and he's talking and making jokes with me. You've got to pinch yourself." One of his teammates last season was Kurt Warner, who once stocked shelves at a grocery store before making it big in the NFL. "He always told me, 'Greg, your story isn't too far off as far as how we both came from the bottom and tried to make it to the top,' " Toler said. "I hope and pray that I can have success just as he did." Toler had 10 tackles and one interception in 13 regular-season games as a backup last fall. He also played in two playoff games, recording nine tackles in a loss to New Orleans. "It was a big jump personnel-wise, [from] playing against guys in the CIAA," he said. "Coming to the league, you're playing against guys like Brandon Marshall, bigger-school guys." In four games this year, Toler has 30 tackles and one sack. He has forced two fumbles. "A lot of my teammates on this level, they respect me and where I came from. They always tell me, 'You've got a hard work ethic. I guess that's because you came from a small school.' When I first came in, [Assistant] Coach Russ Grimm always told me, 'You've got a chip on your shoulder.' " Western Va. Education Classic at William Fleming St. Paul's vs. Bowie State Saturday, 1 p.m.
