Don’t lie on your resume — unless you’re Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi.
Sheehy-Guiseppi is on the Cleveland Browns’ roster largely because he fibbed his way into a workout session, as the receiver recounted with Cleveland.com’s Scott Patsko. Sheehy-Guiseppi was in a rough spot — he said he didn’t receive a scholarship from Phoenix College in 2016 and had no interest from teams to take him as a transfer. He decided to go pro, which proved problematic for obvious reasons: if he couldn’t find interest at the college level, he would definitely have the same problems in the pros. He did CFL and Arena League workouts with no success while staying physically ready in Arizona.
Then he got wind of an NFL workout in Miami, and so he traveled from Arizona to Florida. Of course, he didn’t technically have an invite to that workout. So he had to figure out how to get on the field. He was determined to use vice president of player personnel Alonzo Highsmith as his ticket into the event. Sheehy-Guiseppi didn’t know Highsmith — but the receiver intended to pretend he did. Here’s how the receiver remembered those crucial moments:
Sheehy-Guiseppi made it to Miami and headed to the workout, where he was met with confusion. But he was prepared for that.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi. I’m here for the tryout.”
“Do you know Alonzo?”
“Yeah, I know Alonzo.”
The confidence paid off. Sheehy-Guiseppi had his foot in the door. To make sure his story didn’t fall apart, as soon as he saw Highsmith, he ran to him and introduced himself.
“I just knew I had to make it look like we were friends,” Sheehy-Guiseppi said. “Alonzo was real nice to me.”
The workout began and Sheehy-Guiseppi stood out. He caught punts, he caught passes, and, best of all, his 40 time was 4.38. Only five wide receivers at the 2019 NFL combine ran faster than that.
The appearance was good enough to draw the Browns’ interest, and they decided to invite him for a tryout. Sheehy-Guiseppi said he didn’t have the money to fly back to Arizona, nor did he have the means to rent hotels. So he prepared for his big tryout, he said, by sleeping outside, or in a 24-hour gym. Yet he still earned a spot on the 90-man roster — largely thanks to sub-4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash. Even general manager John Dorsey has been impressed with Sheehy-Guiseppi, who remains a longshot but could conceivably contribute in the NFL as a special teams returner or specialist.
Dorsey praised Sheehy-Guiseppi, and said he was a “very determined young man.” And while he already has a wild story, he’s got a long way to go before he gets his storybook ending.
