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The Jacksonville Jaguars released defensive end Austen Lane a few weeks ago, a fan and Twitter favorite, but they did so in enough time for him to latch on with another team. Recently Lane filled in for Peter King on Monday Morning Quarterback and he once again wrote something for King's new venture, MMQB, chronicling what it was like to get released.
Lane goes into detail a bit giving some insight into what it's like having meetings with Gus Bradley compared to past coaches, and the sudden dread when you hear at unfamiliar voice call out your name in the hallways of EverBank.
"Hey, Austen,'' I hear.
It's an unrecognizable voice. I can't explain exactly why, but I feel a moment of panic rush over me. I turn around to see one of our scouts. I start to slowly walk as he waves me over. Before I get the chance to say hi, the scout quietly says, "Dave needs to see you."
Dave. David Caldwell, the general manager. Oh my God.
Suddenly, a cocoon of panic and fear surrounds me. You think that's a little dramatic? To you, maybe. But you have no idea how a football player feels when, out of the blue, a stranger who works for the team says the general manager wants to see you. It just isn't good. In fact, it's usually life-changing.
If you've ever been surprisingly laid off or fired from a job, I'm sure you can relate. You get that sudden feeling of dread, it suddenly gets warm, your eyes water and it, your mind races to the worst possible outcome.
For Lane, it was being released from the Jaguars, the team who drafted him.
"Why would they cut me? I've done everything they asked. After all of the hard work I put in, all the times playing through pain ... ," Lane writes.
Lane was called into general manager Dave Caldwell's office, accompanied by head coach Gus Bradley and was informed he was being released. Lane describes being released as feeling like numbness, a verbal lobotomy. He also notes that immediately after hearing "We're releasing you," everything else sounds like the teachers on Charlie Brown.
Lane also talks a lot about how much respect he had for Bradley in just the short time they had together.
It's wonderfully written and gives some great insight into the Jaguars. You can read the full piece here.