How Broncos' Dondrea Tillman found 'light at the end of the tunnel' in uncommon NFL path

Dondrea Tillman emerged from the Denver Broncos locker room in the middle of June wearing a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops.

The Broncos had just wrapped up their final practice of mandatory minicamp and opened the door to an important respite ahead.

The 27-year-old linebacker gazed across the field and spotted teammates milling around the food trucks and a snow-cone machine that head coach Sean Payton had organized as a post-practice treat.

Advertisement Tillman smiled at the scene as he registered how different this spring had been from every other one in his professional football career.

It was amazing, man, honestly, Tillman, who signed with the Broncos just before training camp last season, said of his first full offseason program with the team.

For the past three years, Ive been in the (United Football League), and its just hot playing in the spring.

Its 90-degree weather, 98-degree weather, youre in pads, and it gets tough.

So, honestly, it was a blessing not to play (real football games) in the spring.

Payton runs a tough program.

Practices, even during OTAs and minicamp, demand mental discipline and an honest physical effort.

But its nothing compared to playing 60 snaps on a muggy Saturday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala., in June, as Tillman did the last three years before this one.

And it definitely trumps paying $2,500 of his own money just so that he could play in games that had a chance of offering exposure, as Tillman did in 2021 when he played in a developmental program for NFL hopefuls called The Spring League.

There isnt much that could be thrown at Tillman now that would wipe the smile off his face.

Not after all it took to get here.

A lot of time, in todays society, when things dont go your way, people quit, said Zach Potter, who drafted Tillman as the Birmingham Stallions general manager during the supplemental USFL draft in 2022 and worked with him for three seasons.

He never quit.

Tillman was a surprise bright spot for Denvers harassing defense last season, becoming a fixture in coordinator Vance Josephs pass-rush rotation.

Tillman finished with five sacks more than he had in any season in Birmingham (the Stallions were in the USFL in 2022 and 2023 before being folded into the UFL in 2024) and was a stout edge-setter against the run.

At 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds, he provided a physical profile the Broncos dont otherwise have on the edge.

Advertisement Hes a finisher, Joseph said of Tillman.

When youre a rotational guy as a rusher, you have to be a finisher.

When he got to the point of attack, he made the play.

That was a special trait he gave us.

...

Even in the Buffalo playoff game, he was knocking guys around.

He had a great year.

He played a bunch of football, going from the UFL and then with us, but the guy is a finisher.

Hes a big man who gives us a size advantage.

Tillman first starred as a basketball player at Potomac Falls High School in Virginia before realizing, I had more of a football body.

Still, despite his size, Tillman was lightly recruited and didnt have any Division I offers.

He chose to play at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Division II school, and finished fourth in program history with 30 career sacks.

However, that production wasnt enough to get Tillman invited to the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine, which took place just a month before the global COVID-19 pandemic began.

The outbreak meant there were no pro days he could attend and showcase himself in front of NFL evaluators.

The draft came and went, and Tillmans name wasnt called.

He wasnt signed as an undrafted free agent and didnt have the chance to compete as a tryout player at a rookie minicamp since all on-field work that spring had been canceled by the pandemic.

It felt like NFL teams didnt even know Tillman existed.

I dont know if Ive ever been around somebody who came from so far, said Bill Johnson, a veteran defensive line coach who worked with Tillman for two seasons in Birmingham.

Theres people who tell me that when he was in college, they didnt even have a college report on him.

If you try to sell a kid to an NFL scout and they listen to ya, theyll look at their college report on him coming out to see what their scouts had said.

And one guy said, This guy doesnt even have a college report.' Unable to get a look from NFL teams during his first year out of college, Tillman began working part-time until an opportunity with The Spring League popped up in 2021, some 15 months after he had played his last college game.

The developmental league did not pay salaries.

It didnt cover expenses or provide health insurance.

Tillman paid his way into the league and played on a team in its North Hub, with all six of his games taking place in Indianapolis.

Potter was working at the time as a personnel executive in The Spring League.

Advertisement We were in opposite hubs.

He was in the North hub and I was in the South hub, so I only had a chance to watch him on television, Potter said.

So every time the North teams were playing, Id have a chance to watch him.

I just remember thinking, Who the f is this guy making plays? He wasnt a sack guy.

He wasnt dominating.

What he did really well was make lateral plays.

...

Hed run 30 yards down the field to chase a running back or 30 yards down the field to chase a wide receiver.

It was like, Man, who is this guy? Every single week, he impressed me.

The following spring, Potter had been hired as the Stallions GM as they began their first season in the upstart USFL.

The league drafted by position, with defensive linemen and outside linebackers slated to be selected in the second round.

Potter and the Stallions decided they would take Tillman with that selection.

There was only one problem: Tillman wasnt eligible to be drafted.

Im speaking to the league office, the commissioner, and Im like, This guy is our No.

1 guy; how is he not in the draft?' Potter recalled.

Tillmans paperwork to be selected in the draft had mistakenly not been filed in time.

Fortunately for him and the Stallions, there was a supplemental draft one week later.

Potter planned to make Tillman his first-round pick in that draft.

But when the general manager called the pass rusher the day of the draft to ask Tillman what other teams had contacted him, Tillman said he hadnt heard from any of them.

That gave Potter the luxury of waiting until the third round of the supplemental draft to select the top player on his overall board.

It didnt take long for Potter to confirm he had his first steal as a GM.

His blue trait was his effort, said Potter, who is now the general manager for the football program at Sacramento State.

This guy made effort plays time and time again.

Tillman led the USFL in pressures during his first season despite having a pass-rush plan that was a little unorthodox at times, according to Potter.

The general manager recalled sitting with Mike Riley, who coached a rival team in the USFL, at a taco bar after the 2022 season.

No one can block Dondrea Tillman in this league, Riley told Potter.

Who is he? There was still no NFL interest in Tillman.

Potter said teams that did poke around labeled him as a tweener body type, not an ideal fit as a 4-3 defensive end and perhaps too big to be a 3-4 outside linebacker.

Potter even heard from a scout who suggested Tillman build up to 300 pounds and play as a three-technique defensive tackle.

It was a laughable notion, Potter said, to those who were actually watching Tillman play and saw his relentlessness up close.

Advertisement Were going through a half-speed drill and hes going wide open on an offensive tackle, said Johnson, whose 45-year coaching career included eight years as Paytons defensive line coach in New Orleans.

Its like, Slow down, man.

Slow down.

I thought to myself, Heres a kid who didnt know how to put his pads on, and he loves to play so hard and so loves to get after the passer, youve got to slow him down in a walkthrough.

I said, Golly, this kid loves football.' Tillman led the USFL in pressures again in 2023.

Still, interest from NFL teams was nearly non-existent.

Tillman had a one-day tryout with the Steelers, but it didnt result in an invitation to the teams offseason program.

Tillman, now a veteran of three spring seasons, was at a crossroads.

He kind of rode the roller coaster of, Its August, uh oh.

No teams have called,' Potter said.

Like, what do you do? Do you retire? Do you go to Canada? Do you continue to play (in spring leagues)? Ultimately, what do you do? Potter issued Tillman a challenge.

He told the linebacker to spend the fall training as if he were on an NFL team.

Tillman had made enough money during the season with the Stallions to float him through the offseason without having to take a part-time job as he had in the past.

Potter wanted Tillman to get with a trainer, develop a more detailed pass-rush plan and trim down his body fat.

He wanted him to get more technical with his feet and hands.

In other words, throw everything into one last dream-chasing shot.

Pour it all into yourself, Potter told Tillman.

One great year can ultimately change your life.

You can either do it and hope you get the outcome you want, or dont do it and never even know the results of what it could be.

That set the stage for a transformative offseason for Tillman.

The results were immediately apparent when he returned for training camp with the Stallions in February of 2024.

Birmingham had added two former NFL draft picks to the roster that offseason in Jonathan Garvin and Taco Charlton, a first-round selection of the Dallas Cowboys in 2017, but Tillman quickly beat them out as the teams top edge player.

Johnson, who had returned to Birmingham after spending the 2023 season coaching in the XFL with Wade Phillips, was struck by how much Tillman had improved the totality of his game.

I said, I think Im looking at a pretty good player,' Johnson said.

We need to have a conversation about @USFLStallions DE Dondrea Tillman.

How is this man not in the NFL? He had another spectacular outing against St.

Louis this weekend: 4 tackles, 3 TFL's, 1 sack.

@dondreatillman2 is the top graded D-Lineman in the #UFL , at 92.0!! per @PFF ....

pic.twitter.com/7lV9En2t7o James Larsen (@JamesLarsenPFN) May 13, 2024 The Broncos called Potter as often as any team in the league during his time with the Stallions, not only to check on his players but to query him on players around the league.

Denvers personnel department, including general manager George Paton, was always seeking new insights.

Its an approach that recently led them to another former Stallions player in cornerback Mario Goodrich, who signed with the Broncos in June and will compete for a job in training camp.

Advertisement I wasnt just, Let me read their college report,' Potter said.

They genuinely wanted new information.

Have they changed personality? Have they changed in some of their weight room habits? Have they changed in any way off the field? They wanted to know about players and prospects.

The more the Broncos gathered information about Tillman, the more there was to like.

It helped that Johnson was intimately familiar with Josephs scheme.

Both coaches had learned defensive philosophy under Phillips, the longtime NFL coach and coordinator of the Broncos famed 2015 defense.

He also has a longstanding relationship with Joe Vitt, the Broncos senior defensive assistant who works closely with the teams outside linebackers.

When Joe Vitt called and (Denvers) pro director called, I said, I know what youre doing on defense; I know Vance because he was with Wade all those years,' Johnson said.

I said, Are you all playing wink and sink and all that kind of stuff on defense? They said, Yeah, thats exactly what we do.

I said, Well, I know your scheme and this guy fits your scheme perfectly at a Will (linebacker).

I mean perfectly.' As Tillman began dominating his third season with Birmingham, Denver had company in its pursuit.

Marty Magid, a veteran agent Tillman hired after his first season in the USFL, said seven teams were expressing interest during his final season with Birmingham.

It was a stark contrast from the four years he had just spent wondering if hed ever get his NFL shot.

There wasnt really so much doubt, I just knew I had to take my time and be patient with things, Tillman said.

I knew, coming out of a Division II school and going undrafted, it was going to take a little longer.

I just took every opportunity I could and I ran with it.

The Broncos moved aggressively in June of 2024, just after Tillman had lifted his third championship trophy with the Stallions.

They offered him a three-year, $2.84 million contract.

It came with a $10,000 signing bonus, but that was the only part of the contract that was guaranteed.

Tillman still had to earn his spot.

He also had to figure out how to get ready for training camp just weeks after his season with the Stallions had ended.

I wouldnt say it was physically taxing as much as mentally, Tillman said.

I had only had a month off.

Coming from a 12-week season, only having a month off and then coming right into training camp, the biggest thing was just being mentally prepared and being mentally locked in every day.

Advertisement Tillman was left off Denvers initial 53-man roster, but was quickly signed to the practice squad.

In Week 3, he was elevated for Denvers game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to replace Baron Browning, who was dealing with a foot injury.

In his NFL debut, nearly five years after he left college and after four seasons of grinding through spring leagues, Tillman sacked Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield twice in a Broncos victory.

.

@Broncos @dondreatillman2 showed up in a big way.

Gotta be honest.

Dont know mych about him but I wanna see more v @nyjets on Sunday #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/DhT8oh41da Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 25, 2024 Afterward, Tillman was greeted with a raucous ovation from teammates appreciative of his journey to that moment.

Tiiilll , they hollered in the visiting locker room.

Woo! That boy Till! Tillman said there were pinch-me moments like that often during his first NFL season.

He was part of a close-knit defensive front that fueled a record 63-sack season.

He played in an NFL playoff game, just six months after he was playing in the UFL.

Its a dream come true, honestly, Tillman said.

Its one he didnt let go, even when one fall after another came and went without an invitation to showcase himself at the games highest level.

The light at the end of the tunnel was slowly getting dimmer and dimmer, Potter said, and he kept it alive.

(Top photo: David Zalubowski / Associated Press).

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