At age 32, any path Rubin Pickett takes to NFL stardom will be considered a long one. Now the former Zephyrhills star can add "winding" to describe the path to his football dreams.
Pickett will leave his job at a bottled-water plant in Zephyrhills and report to Texas to play linebacker for the Corpus Christi Hammerheads of the Intense Football League, a six-team indoor league that opens its inaugural season May 1.
"He is a pure linebacker," said Jimmy Dunn, a former University of Florida assistant and Bucs scout who will coach the Hammerheads. "That was what I was looking for, and Rubin fit the bill. I'll be disappointed if he isn't starting for us."
The NFL has found rags-to-riches stories in recent years, with Kurt Warner going from grocery bagger to MVP and former beer truck driver and janitor Michael Lewis making it to the Pro Bowl with the Saints in 2002.
Pickett, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, has played the past two springs in Brooksville with the semi-pro Hernando Eagles of the Southern States Football League. The challenge of playing indoor football in a new league is just the latest venture in a family known for football success in Zephyrhills.
Pickett's youngest brother, Ryan, is entering his fourth season as a defensive tackle with the NFL's Rams. Rubin was a senior on Zephyrhills' first playoff team in 1989, starting on defense alongside brother Booker, then a sophomore.
"He was one of those kids who could do it all," said Bulldogs coach Tom Fisher, who went 9-2 in his first season, when Pickett was a senior. "He had the size and the ability then, and he still has the ability and is still young enough to do this."
Pickett, 6 feet 3, 240 pounds, played at Louisiana-Monroe after graduating from Zephyrhills and had a brief stint in the Canadian Football League in the mid 1990s.
The IFL is being touted as having a talent level between the Arena Football League and its small-market counterpart, af2. The league format calls for an indoor 50-yard field but no nets like the AFL. Players in the IFL will not play both offense and defense as most do in the AFL.
The league will uproot his life more than the Hernando Eagles did. The Hammerheads will play a 16-game schedule, entirely in Texas, starting May 1. Players are compensated $225 per game with a $50 bonus for each game won. The cost of their apartments and meals are covered during the season by the team.
The Picketts are as storied a family as there is in Zephyrhills athletics. Pickett's father, Rubin Sr., was a catcher on the Bulldogs baseball teams that reached the state semifinals in 1969 and 1970, and his cousin, Damien, played football at Zephyrhills, graduating in 1994. Ryan, Booker, Rubin Jr. and Damien were honored when the Times selected its 99 greatest football players in county history in 1999.
