DRAPER — John Madsen fulfilled his dreams by completing an improbable journey to the National Football League.
Now, he's hoping that his experience of beating impossible odds will help others do the same.
Madsen, who attended Hunter High — but didn't play football there — is moving on in his post-football career. Madsen, who was a receiver at the University of Utah before playing three seasons as a tight end in the NFL, is opening a training facility in Draper. The facility is geared toward serious youth athletes in all sports.
Madsen is opening his new facility after passing up the chance to extend his NFL career with the Detroit Lions.
"I just came to the conclusion that football might be coming to an end sooner than later in my life, and I needed to be ready to do something with football out of my life," Madsen said. "This (football and training) is something that I've passionately enjoyed my whole life. I came up with the idea trying to help some of the younger athletes and wanted to do it here in my hometown in Utah."
Younger athletes can learn plenty from Madsen — not just how he made it to the NFL, but also about the training methods and techniques he gleaned while working his way from Hunter High to being a professional athlete.
'Long road'
Madsen made it to the NFL without ever playing a down of high school football. He played football in Little League through his ninth-grade year. When he suffered a sports hernia as a sophomore, he figured he'd pick up the sport again during his junior and senior years.
Those well-laid plans changed when Madsen went through a growth spurt. Madsen grew to 6-foot-3 without gaining a pound, and figured he would be best suited to playing basketball instead.
"I thought basketball was my sport," Madsen said. "I was lanky, lean and skinny. I thought, 'Football is not my game anymore.' "
After a solid high school athletic career in which Madsen lettered in basketball and baseball, he attended Snow College on an academic scholarship. He was quickly courted by the school's football, basketball and baseball coaches. He gave football a try — because it was first on the school's annual sports calendar, and he was hooked by his return to the gridiron.
"A coach told me if you're not doing anything else, you might have a future in this," Madsen said. "I worked on being the best receiver I could be."
After a year at Snow, Madsen arrived at Utah the same time Urban Meyer did. In 2004 — Utah's original BCS-busting season — he had 27 catches for 377 yards and five touchdowns. His senior season was cut short when he broke his foot, but he still tied for the team lead in receptions with 55. He had 672 receiving yards and six touchdowns that season.
The injury Madsen suffered during his senior season made preparing for the NFL draft quite difficult. He didn't get picked in the 2006 draft, but the Raiders gave him a shot as a free agent. Madsen was a long shot to make the final roster.
"I definitely took the long road to the NFL," Madsen said.
Raider Nation
Eight tight ends were in camp with the Raiders when Madsen was a rookie. On the depth chart, he was listed at No. 8. As Madsen puts it, "a lot of good things happened in the preseason" and he survived training camp and made the team's opening-day roster.
Madsen wasn't competing at tight end at the start of training camp. He was first a receiver, and a slow one while still dealing with his senior-year injury. Raiders owner Al Davis suggested to Madsen that he move to tight end early on in training camp.
Who's going to argue with the boss?
"It was crazy," Madsen said of his conversation with Davis. "I couldn't believe I was talking to him in the first place. I'm wearing a Raiders helmet. I would have done anything. If he would have told me to switch to defense, if it would have given me a better shot (at making the team), I would have done it. I just wanted to play football."
It wasn't easy giving up being a receiver after Madsen had put so much work into playing the position at Snow and Utah.
"I do like the position of wide receiver better, but playing in the NFL is a dream come true just to put on the uniform," Madsen said.
Every Sunday then became a dream come true for Madsen.
"Unbelievable," Madsen said. "I watched millions of games growing up. I was a football fanatic. My first game running out of that tunnel in the (Oakland-Alameda County) Coliseum with all those crazy Raider fans, it was nuts — the biggest adrenaline rush I could get."
Madsen was cut by the Raiders during the 2008 season and finished the year with the Cleveland Browns. He went to camp with the Browns in 2009 before getting cut late in the preseason. He spent last season with the UFL's Las Vegas Locomotives (coached by former Utah head coach Jim Fassel), helping them to the league's inaugural championship.
Madsen caught 19 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns in three seasons with the Raiders.
To play or train
Madsen started putting together plans for his new business, Flex Athletic Performance, after his UFL experience. Once again, his well-laid plans were disrupted by an unexpected obstacle — but a very intriguing one.
The Detroit Lions called and invited Madsen in for a tryout during the spring. Madsen had his reservations — he had already signed his lease on his building for Flex Athletic Performance. Still, Madsen went to Detroit and gave it a shot. He was offered a contract by the Lions.
Madsen, however, decided against playing for Detroit.
"In the summer, if you sign with an NFL team, you don't necessarily get paid until you make the final roster in September," Madsen said. "They told me they wanted to sign me, but I told them I can't really afford to be here all summer long if I'm going to get cut in September."
Madsen didn't want to stay in Detroit all summer while he could be making strides with his new business.
"The NFL is still a dream, it's still a definite possibility, but I just need to take my chances a little bit closer to roster day," Madsen said. "I didn't want to come back in September and have lost out on the opportunity to reach some of these kids during their summer. It was a hard decision, for sure."
Madsen hopes to hear from an NFL team later this summer as the 2010 season draws closer.
"I'm one phone call away," Madsen said. "It's crazy. You'll get a phone call and you'll be on a flight in the next two hours and could play for five more years. Or I could never get that call."
Reaching kids
If there's another John Madsen in Utah, one who can beat long odds with hard work and determination, Madsen believes he can inspire him or her with his story and help them reach their goals with what he's learned about training as a pro and collegiate athlete.
"I didn't play one down of high school football — that's what I tell a lot of these kids walking through the doors (at Flex Athletic Performance)," Madsen said. "They've done more in their high school careers, football-wise, than I ever did and I still found a way to make it.
"I think I have a pretty motivational story to tell some of these kids about what hard work and a strong belief in yourself can do. I'm happy my career turned out that way because now I have a story that I can tell some other kid and maybe motivate him to do the same."
Although football is his specialty, Madsen will train athletes in all sports. His new building in Draper is set up to accommodate athletes in all sports. It is an 8,500-square-foot facility with about 3,500 square feet of it installed with Fieldturf. His gym won't be one where you can walk in and buy a membership. It will be a place for athletes to train, at $25 per session, by appointment only.
"We want to keep the right amount of people in here," Madsen said. "We want people to be the best athlete they can be no matter what sport they play."
Madsen has gotten the word out about his gym since it opened by meeting with teams such as Herriman High's football team and Jordan High's boys basketball team. He also worked a couple of the University of Utah's football camps this summer.
"I think what he is doing is phenomenal," said Rob Geertsen, Jordan High's boys basketball coach. "I think it's a great facility for football, basketball, and any type of sport where you're trying to increase your strength, agility and confidence."
Geertsen has known Madsen a long time, having coached him in junior high basketball.
"I think what's great about him is he was just an ordinary Joe high school kid and he made it all the way to being a pro athlete," Geertsen said. "He just worked and worked and worked in the weight room. He's a great role model."
Madsen is modeling his new place after Athletes Performance in Arizona, a place he trained during NFL offseasons. He wants Flex Athletic Performance to be the premier place in Utah to train, and he's approaching his new career with the same passion that got him to the NFL.
"I'm so competitive," Madsen said. "I want to be the best at what I do. I'm hungry. I have a thirst for knowledge. If I'm not playing football anymore, I want to be the best trainer/mentor for these young kids that they can get in the whole state of Utah. That's my goal.
"If my (pro football) career is done, I want to help the next kid who has big dreams and help him do what they need to do to reach them."
The John Madsen file
He made it to the NFL despite never playing a down of high school football.
In three seasons as a receiver at the University of Utah, he had 85 catches for 1,140 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Madsen played in the NFL for three seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns. At tight end, he had 19 receptions for 248 yards and two touchdowns.
Madsen is opening a training facility, Flex Athletic Performance, in Draper, and it is geared toward training serious youth athletes. It is located at 12896 S. Pony Express Road (Suite 50).
e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com