As the 2025 NFL Draft reached the seventh round, Donte Kent’s phone started to ring.
Kent, a cornerback from Central Michigan, was talking to a team who was interested in him, but it was to sign him as an undrafted free agent. While he was listening to their pitch, taking in what they were sharing with him, his phone rang again.
Something told him to take the call.
“The call was actually coming from an unknown number,” said Kent. “I was on a call with a team who were trying to sign me as an undrafted free agent, and I see a 412-area code number calling. The first thing I said to the coach I was on the phone with is I have a random number calling me and I think I should take this.
“And that phone call changed my life.”
That phone call was from Steelers General Manager Omar Khan and Coach Mike Tomlin informing Kent the Steelers were selecting him in the seventh round, with the 229th overall pick.
“It was amazing because I actually felt a team wanted me because they were drafting me, and it just makes me want to go harder for them,” said Kent. “The fact that Pittsburgh took a chance on me. They believe in me. I’ve got a chance to give myself and my family a better life.”
Football in general has helped Kent have a better life, keeping him on a path that focused on sports over the trouble that can arise in a larger city environment.
“Where I’m from, not a lot of people make it out,” said Kent, who went to Harrisburg High School, the same school as the Cowboys Micah Parsons. “It’s easy to get distracted, easy to get in trouble. I kept my head on straight throughout the whole process. I kept the main goal right in front of me.
“Sports changed my life. Sports brought me new opportunities in life period. I was always active. I played football. I was a wrestler. I also did track leading up to high school. It kept me out of a lot of trouble, and it kept my head on straight.”
Kent couldn’t be happier with…
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