FRISCO, Texas – Every football player dreams of one day hearing their name called in the NFL Draft. To get so close to living that dream and come up short hurts. But Cowboys undrafted free agent WR Traeshon Holden's disappointment is behind him, and he's on a mission to prove himself.
"I was hurt," Holden said. "That 24-hour rule, I was hurting. But now, I'm here, and I'm ready to make it happen. I'll do what I can to show everybody that I belong."
Holden was one of nine undrafted free agents that the Cowboys signed last week and now gets to reunite with his collegiate wide receivers coach Junior Adams in Dallas.
"I'm very excited. He told me if he got a chance to come get me, he was coming to get me," Holden said. "He knows he got a dawg, and I'm ready to make it happen."
After beginning his collegiate career at Alabama, Holden transferred to the Ducks ahead of the 2023 season, as Adams was heading into his second year coaching receivers in Eugene. In their two years together, Holden had the best two year stretch of his college career with 82 receptions, 1,170 yards and 11 touchdowns. More importantly, they forged a tight bond with one another.
"Me and his relationship is more than player-coach," Holden said. "I call him if I just need to talk to somebody, and we've got a really good relationship. It's good that we have it in the pros for sure."
Oregon has some of the best facilities in college football, with plenty of support from Nike CEO Phil Knight to make that possible. And yet, walking around the Star in Frisco blew Holden out of the water.
"It's great, it's like an Oregon times ten," Holden said. "It's insane, this is crazy, it's very nice. City's lovely, I can't wait to make something happen."
Heading into the start of rookie minicamp on Friday, the tours of the facility and paperwork are all over. Now, Holden's ready to show teams that passed up on him they made a mistake in doing so.
"Prove everybody wrong," Holden said on his mindset for minicamp. "Everybody. I'm coming for heads. That's it."
