The irony was difficult to miss. For years, Kevin Curtis had to pay his way to play football. Last week he was offered millions of dollars to play football.
A handful of NFL teams courted the free agent wide receiver, hoping to sign him to a fat contract. He visited, in order, the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans (he also was courted by the Jacksonville Jaguars).
The Kevin Curtis Sweepstakes ended Friday when he agreed to sign with the Eagles, who made it official when they faxed the contract to his father's home mortgage office in South Jordan.
Curtis signed a six-year contract worth as much as $32 million, $9.5 million of it guaranteed. The contract stamped Curtis as one of the NFL's elite players. Not bad for a guy who had to convince coaches at Snow College to give him a tryout and later walked on at Utah State after promising his father he would earn a scholarship if he would pay for a year of college.
Even Curtis, a modest, restrained man of few words, is moved to say, "It's kind of mind boggling, these last few days. To get that kind of money to play football, and most of my life I spent my own money so people would let me play. I never said I couldn't do it, but there is still part of me that never expected to still be playing today. This has gone a lot further than I ever thought it would."
He's done it the hard way. Not only was he a two-time walk-on and third-round pick, but he interrupted his football career for two years to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is one of the few skill-position players who served a mission and went on to make it in the NFL (among them, Chad Lewis, who became an All-Pro tight end for the same Eagles, whose coach, Andy Reid, is a Mormon).
Curtis spent most of his four years in the league as the St. Louis' Rams' No. 3 receiver, playing behind Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. The Rams told him he would step into the starting lineup when those veterans retired, but Curtis didn't think he could afford to wait. At 28, he is in the prime of his athletic life.
"From what I could tell, (their retirement) is two or three years away," he says. "I'm not going to have the longevity they did. I got a late start (because of the mission). I didn't want to wait around. I've got only so many years to play. I wanted to be a starter and be on the field every down and get the opportunity to make plays."
Other teams offered more money, but there were more important considerations for Curtis. With the Eagles, who recently lost Donte Stallworth to free agency, he will compete with Reggie Brown to be the No. 1 receiver on one of the NFL's elite teams.
"I have a chance to play a major role on a good team that has a chance to play in the post-season, and to have Donovan McNabb at quarterback and an offense that's been successful," says Curtis. "I couldn't ask for a better situation.
"With them losing Stallworth, the plan is for me to come in and take over that role," says Curtis. "I talked to Coach Reid quite a bit. He felt he needed a guy like me to come in and fill that void (left by Stallworth). But I'm going to have to back it up. Those things are decided on the field."
In Curtis, who was rated one of the top free agents this offseason, the Eagles get one of the fastest receivers in the league, as well as one of the league's brightest players (only one player has ever scored higher than he did on the Wonderlic test).
In his four seasons in the league (all with the Rams), Curtis caught 136 passes for 1,714 yards and 12 touchdowns in 51 games (he missed most of his rookie season with a broken leg). His best season was 2005, when he caught 60 passes for 801 yards and six TDs with Bruce sidelined for a few games with an injury.
The Eagles will likely fare better with Curtis than the last two free-agent wide receivers they signed to big contracts — Stallworth and Terrell Owens, neither of whom stayed with the team more than a season and a half.
"Kevin's a guy that we've liked all along," Eagles general manager Tom Heckert told Sports Illustrated. "He's got great speed and run-after-the-catch ability. Kevin's a calm, smart guy that just goes out and plays football. He definitely brings tremendous speed to our team."
Years ago, Mike Martz, who drafted Curtis when he was the Rams' head coach, told reporters, "(Curtis) deserves to be a starter. He's a good player, and I'm excited to see what he'll do in the future."
The future is here for Curtis, whose salary has jumped from $400,000 two years ago to $18 million for the next four years (and potentially another $18 million in the two years after that). Curtis, who has been planning to build a house in Utah for some time, says he doesn't plan to make any new purchases otherwise with his new fortune.
"I had to get a new car a few months ago," he says. "This will help soften the blow."
E-mail: drob@desnews.com