Rainer Sabin

IRVING, Texas -- As much as he wishes it weren't true, Jake Kirkpatrick acknowledges not a lot has changed in the last week.

He still shuttles back and forth between his hometown of Tyler, Texas, and Dallas, pursuing a dream that has yet to be realized. He still lifts weights and hones his blocking technique, hoping the hard work he's done has not been for naught. And he still feels those occasional pangs of anxiety, unsure of what his future holds.

"It's always stressful," Kirkpatrick said. "I try not to worry about it too much."

DALLAS -- The memories are not fond ones, Doug Cosbie explains.

They are tethered to one of the darkest periods in his professional football life, when he was forced to swallow a sobering bit of truth and accept that the harsh realities of business had separated him from the game he had grown to love.

For more than four weeks, Cosbie didn't play a down of organized football. Instead, the three-time Pro Bowler spent hours on the phone and early mornings toting placards, watching a group of impostors enter his workplace.