National Football League

Redskins' Armstrong had 'very scenic' route to NFL

Published Aug. 25, 2010 10:35 p.m. ET

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Anthony Armstrong's route to the Washington Redskins needs some explaining.

First, there's the matter of his college: West Texas A&M.

Note the word ''West.'' It throws everyone - including teammates - for a loop.

''They say, 'Texas A&M.' And I say, 'No, no, I'm not an Aggie,''' Armstrong said. ''I have to reiterate, it's WEST Texas A&M. And they say, 'Where is that?'''

Answer: Canyon, not far from Amarillo. A Division II school in a place so small that Armstrong remembers the ''Walmart that closed at 9.'' Ryan Leaf once coached there.

Armstrong's next stop is even harder to explain: He played for the Odessa Roughnecks of the Intense Football League.

What? The Intense Football League?

''Couple of hundred dollars a game,'' Armstrong said. ''Chump change.''

The IFL was an indoor league, but it wasn't intense enough to hold Armstrong. He was soon playing in - ta dah! - the good old Arena Football League, with the Dallas Desperados.

''The AFL was a huge promotion,'' he said with a laugh. ''Those checks were even better.''

Fast forward a bit, and Armstrong is the leading receiver in the preseason for the Redskins, a long-shot speedster making a surprisingly strong bid for a roster spot at the age of 27. Donovan McNabb's first touchdown pass in the first game didn't go to Santana Moss, Joey Galloway, Devin Thomas, Roydell Williams or Malcolm Kelly. It went to Armstrong.

''When I came in here and took the job, I said, 'Who is that guy?''' coach Mike Shanahan recalled. ''He showed a lot of speed. Obviously, he was released somewhere along the line, and we brought him in. You can see he's got speed. He's been making some plays.''

Armstrong had hoped for a more direct route to the NFL, but he had surgery on his wrist after his senior season in 2004 and failed a physical with the Atlanta Falcons.

''I spent a whole year out of football,'' Armstrong said. ''I didn't know if I was ever going to get to play again. I didn't know anything about the Intense Football League. I didn't know how to get into any other form of football. I was upset, depressed. I wasn't the same. I wasn't really laughing and smiling like I always am.''

So he went to the IFL, then the AFL, then spent 2008 on the Miami Dolphins practice squad. Miami cut him at the end of training camp last year, but the Redskins added him to their practice squad a few months later. He's had the perfect chance to impress under the new Shanahan regime: After Moss, there is no clear-cut pecking order at receiver.

''A guy who can run and is fast, but also has the quick twitch to get in and out of breaks,'' offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said. ''He's got the hands. He's got everything it takes to be a receiver. You wonder why the guy's never had a career catch - what's the deal? - so we wanted to get him under the lights. He hasn't flinched at all.''

Armstrong knows he'll have to keep it up over the last two preseason games to assure his place on the opening day roster. If he makes it, he'll gladly be known as the receiver who paid his dues. As he put it: ''You need rain to have flowers in the end.''

''I embrace it because it's a part of my journey,'' Armstrong said. ''I've been there, I've been out of football and I've worked up the ranks, worked up the ladder. I've done it all. I haven't had the quote-unquote easy road, the fast lane to the NFL, so I appreciate my journey. It's been very scenic, and I've met a lot of good people along the way and I don't have a problem with it at all.''

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