Back in April, when Donald Payne first signed as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens, he had an idea about how much work was involved with being an NFL player, but reality and the preconceived idea are often different.
 
Payne, a three-time All-American and three-time Pioneer Football League Defensive Player of the Year as a safety for the Stetson Hatters, is now a free-agent rookie linebacker with the Ravens, a team with serious post-season aspirations. So, not only is the former Hatter having to adjust to life as a professional, he is having to do it while learning a new position, living in a new city and with no net to catch him.
 
Payne is one of 15 linebackers on the Baltimore roster heading into training camp, which opens on Friday for the 25 rookies. The rest of the Ravens' current squad of 89 players will report to camp next week.
 
"Training camp for the rookies really started yesterday (Wednesday) with the conditioning test, which I passed," Payne said from the team camp hotel outside of Baltimore.
 
Since signing, Payne has taken part in multiple OTAs (organized team activity), mini camps and a variety of other activities with the Ravens. While college players focus their attention on working in the weight room for a few hours a week during the time between spring practice and training camp, NFL players are working – often putting in 12 hour days, six days a week.
 
"When I first got here for football school, my eyes were wide open seeing all these guys who I played on Madden with - guys who have won Super Bowls," Payne said. "I am in with the linebackers and there are a lot of guys in this room. I had to realize that I am one of these guys now and I have to treat myself like a pro."
 
The corps of linebackers on the Ravens' roster includes C.J. Mosley from Alabama, 15-year veteran Terrell Suggs from Arizona State and seven-year pro Albert McClellan from Marshall. The group also includes six rookies and five others with just one or two years of NFL experience.
 
"It is an adjustment every day because it is completely different at linebacker, and I am totally out of the loop," Payne said. "I had to learn a new stance and everything. I am the only guy in my position room that didn't play linebacker in college. I am also the smallest guy in the room at 227 pounds, but I don't plan to get left behind.
 
"Not only do I have to adjust to the NFL and the speed and strength of the game, but I also am learning a new position. The transition is going well and my coach thinks I have made a good jump these last two months. I am learning new things every day."
 
Payne said he leaned on his defensive coaches at Stetson to both help with the transition to being an NFL player, as well as the transition to linebacker.
 
"I had some guys give me a run down on how things would be, so I had an idea going in," Payne said, specifically pointing to Hatters defensive coordinator Brian Young and former defensive backs coach Kiwaukee Thomas. "If it were not for that, I would have been shell-shocked. Coach Thomas and Coach Young told me some things to expect, and it is just what they said it would be."
 
In the transition to linebacker from safety, he has called on Stetson linebackers coach Bob Majeski, but he has also spent time on the phone with former teammates like Dylan Wydronkowski.
 
"I have talked to Coach Mojo a lot," Payne said. "He has told me things that I hope can help me down the line, just little things they do. He has told me some things that the NFL likes in their linebackers. I am a hybrid linebacker and they like using me to cover running backs or tight ends. I am smaller than the others, but I am also faster than the other guys."
 
Payne said his position coach, Don Martindale, who he calls "Coach Wink" has spent extra time working to help ease the adjustment to a new position. Martindale is a 13-year coaching veteran in the NFL, the last six with the Ravens. He was also defensive coordinator for a time with the Denver Broncos and spent 11 seasons as a collegiate coach at Cincinnati and Western Kentucky.
 
"The transition is going well and my coach thinks I have made a good jump these last two months," Payne said. "I am learning new things every day. It hasn't been a cakewalk, but it hasn't been as physically demanding as I thought. The days are just long. It is just as mentally demanding as it is physically demanding."
 
The physical part will change when the veterans arrive next week and the players put on full pads for the first time. Payne said he is looking forward to that time because he thinks that will be his opportunity to shine.
 
"It is my goal to make the 53-man roster, and that is what I am working toward," Payne said. "There are 85 or 90 guys here right now, and we have to be down to 53 by the end of August. There are a lot of great players on this team that I saw on TV when I was in high school.
 
"My coach told us we have to be focused because these older guys see us as competition for their jobs. It is a totally different mind-set from college where we are all on the same team at the end of camp. Here, we all have the same goal, but not everyone is going to be here when the season starts."
 
Payne will have two major opportunities prior to the first preseason game to show what he can do on the big stage. The Ravens have practices scheduled for the public at M&T Bank Stadium on July 30 and August 5 before the first preseason game, against the Washington Redskins, on August 10.
 
Hatters fans with an interest in seeing Payne in action for Baltimore during the preseason will have a chance to do so on August 17 when the Ravens travel to Miami for a game against the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.