Maehl's time now: Paradise High grad set for second NFL training camp

PARADISE ? With NFL training camps set to open up like clockwork around the league next week, the vacation for Paradise High School product and Houston Texans wide receiver Jeff Maehl is closing fast.

Maehl's day-to-day job is less of a task and more of a dream that he admittedly didn't see coming when he was a little boy growing up in Paradise, he said.

Maehl, a 2007 Paradise High graduate and former record-setting receiver at the University of Oregon, relishes the opportunity to get back to playing football professionally against world-class athletes with the chance to make the 53-man active roster out of training camp.

For those who don't remember, Maehl, 23, failed to make the cut and instead was designated to the Texans' practice squad a year ago. The 6-foot, 178-pound Maehl ended up getting promoted to the active roster prior to Houston's home game against Carolina in week 15 of the regular season.

His goal this season is to make the team out of training camp, which gets underway a week from Friday, Maehl said.

"First of all is to make the 53," he said. "It's a dream come true for me. When I was a little kid, all I wanted to do was play a college sport and then to be able to take it to the next level and play professionally is a dream come true. I find myself sometimes at practice looking over and seeing Andre Johnson next to me and thinking how surreal it is."

Maehl, who stopped by Paradise's annual Bobcat youth football camp on Tuesday to sign

autographs and visit old friends and family, thinks his chances of being named to the opening-day roster Sept. 9 when the Texans host Miami are better than last year. One of the reasons for Maehl's optimism stems from the fact that with the exception of veterans Johnson and Kevin Walter, the Texans' receiving corps this year is essentially on the same level.

Johnson and Walter are the only Houston receivers to have caught an NFL pass.

"A lot of inexperience and just a lot of competition, and that's something we're all looking forward to," Maehl said. "The coaches are looking forward to us battling. It's pretty much wide open for whoever steps up and takes it."

Maehl says since he and Lestar Jean, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound receiver out of Florida Atlantic are entering their second training camp in Houston, it's imperative that the pair act as veterans among the younger group that includes Maehl, Jean, two drafted rookies in DeVier Posey and Keshawn Martin and a trio of undrafted free agents.

"They don't expect guys like me and Lestar to make mental mistakes that we made as rookies," Maehl said. "So just continuing to stay consistent, and then it all comes down to making plays and showing your worth out there."

Paradise varsity coach Rick Prinz, who barked at and directed Maehl for three seasons up on the Ridge, says he's extremely confident his former star pupil will come to play beginning next week.

"He had a great foundation at Oregon and becoming their top receiver of all-time," Prinz said. "I think it just takes reps, picking up the speed of the game, reacting and not having to think. With his work ethic, athletic ability and intelligence, he'll be there eventually."

And Prinz says he'll be in his corner every step of the way.

"For me personally, I went from a coach to now one of his biggest fans. I'm enjoying it and hoping the best for him," he said. "I know he's working hard, and I'm very confident that he's going to be successful and achieve all his goals."

The dream and day-to-day job of an NFL receiver resumes next week.

Maehl says the best thing about this two-year stint as a professional wide receiver has been forming a bond with guys he thought he'd never meet as a boy.

"Just being able to meet guys I grew up idolizing," Maehl said. "The Andre Johnsons, the Brian Cushings ? obviously I played against him ? but guys that are such big names in the NFL and you find out they're so down to Earth and humble. It's something not everyone on the outside knows, and it's been a dream come true."

For more to this story as well as video, see the online and print editions of the Paradise Post on Saturday.

Connect with Paradise Post Sports Editor Jeff Larson on Twitter: @jtlarson.

Source: http://www.chicoer.com/ci_21100361/maehls-time-now-paradise-high-grad-set-second?source=rss_viewed

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