Troy Woolfolk no stranger to second chances

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Last week, the Dallas Cowboys.

This week, Detroit Lions.

What's the next stop on Troy Woolfolk's NFL tryout tour?

"Hopefully, I don't have another one," Woolfolk, a former Michigan defensive back, said Saturday following a morning practice.

Woolfolk already has been released by the Cowboys following their rookie mini-camp. Now he's trying to make an impression with the Lions as a tryout player during another three-day rookie camp that ends Sunday.

Woolfolk is hoping this opportunity lasts a little longer.

"The thing is they brought in a different safety, a veteran  that they were trying to get," Woolfolk said of his quick exit after being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cowboys. "They needed a safety to impact now. They thought of me as a player who would have to develop more fundamentally. So they picked him over me."

The experience in Dallas, however short, was still helpful.

"Going into the Cowboys' camp, I was really nervous and wasn't really paying attention to what was going on," Woolfolk said. "Here, I've got more sense of calmness.

"I feel like it's my second go-around so it's always less nerve-racking when you come around the second time."

Obviously, it's a long shot for Woolfolk to make the Lions' 53-man roster. It would be an accomplishment just to stay on through the offseason workouts and well into training camp that begins in July.

But nothing comes easy for Woolfolk, who endured an injury-plagued college career with the Wolverines. He sat out the entire 2010 season after suffering a horrific ankle/leg injury during preseason camp. Woolfolk hasn't been the same since that day, when he dislocated his right ankle, tore ligaments in the ankle and also suffered a broken leg.

Woolfolk received a fifth year of eligibility and worked hard to make a comeback in 2011, but it became one thing after another for him. He sprained an ankle in the opening game last season, broke a bone in his hand the next week and eventually lost his cornerback job, moving to strong safety and then free safety.

The lost year was a major setback.

"That hurt me a lot," Woolfolk said. "I feel like even when I first came back, it was still kind of aggravating. It wasn't really completely healed until the end of the season.

"I feel like I let my team down in some aspects. Toward the end of the year, I was finally 100 percent. I just wish I had that throughout the whole year."

Woolfolk also wishes he had listened to his father, Butch, a little closer before heading to the Dallas tryout.

Butch Woolfolk is the fifth-leading rusher in Michigan football history. He also spent seven years in the NFL, including 1987 and '88 with the Lions before suffering a knee injury that ultimately led to his retirement.

"He told me it was going to be fast, he told us they were going to teach us and install a play and then we were going to have to do it that (day) during practice," Troy Woolfolk said of his father's precamp warnings. "I said, 'Yeah, dad, I understand.'

"When I went out there, it was a completely different thing (than he expected). I was shocked. I texted him right after practice, 'You were right.'"

Butch's response: "You've got to listen to your father."

The Lions desperately need help in their secondary at both cornerback and safety, but there are many players ahead of Woolfolk in the pecking order. They include three corners - Bill Bentley, Chris Greenwood and Jonte Green - who were recent draft picks by the club and are also participating in this mini-camp.

Woolfolk, who is 6-foot, 191 pounds, is listed by the Lions as a cornerback, but he thinks his versatility in being able to play all positions in the secondary could help his chances.

If not with the Lions, then with some other team.

When asked about Woolfolk's presence in camp, Lions coach Jim Schwartz joked, "We didn't have to get a flight from Ann Arbor. That helped a little bit."

Woolfolk knows the odds are against him. He admitted he's ready to turn to what he calls his "B plan" if necessary, but he's determined to give his dream a good shot first.

He doesn't want to go on having to ask himself the "what if" question the rest of his life.

If and when the NFL opportunity gets halted, Woolfolk said he will go help run a pharmaceutical company owned by his father in Washington D.C.

"This is a journey," said Woolfolk, who made 91 tackles but had no interceptions in 44 games at Michigan, including 23 starts. "My main goal right now is to make it to the league. I'm going to do anything I can to do that."