As spring became summer and the calendar flipped from May to June, Orson Charles sat at his home in Atlanta, out of work.
At some point, most NFL players must decide if their football careers are over before they’re physically ready for it to be. Charles, 26, had pondered whether or not to retire for months. The former Georgia tight end was not on a team but not quite ready to give up the sport he has played since he was 12.
And then, on June 1, the Kansas City Chiefs called.
Charles’ last team, the Detroit Lions, cut him in the middle of the 2016 season.