There are so many similarities between Poling and Hull, which might be why they became fast friends in training camp. Poling is listed at 6-1, 235 pounds; Hull at 6-0, 235 pounds. Poling started 50 games at Ohio University and finished with 374 tackles. Hull started 48 games at Penn State and finished with 294 tackles. They both came into the league handicapped by scouting reports that labeled them too short and too slow. But that hasn't deterred either player because it's a story they have been hearing since the first time they put on shoulder pads. Why should this level be any different?

Poling feels awful about his friend. You could hear it in his words. But he's got to move on, got to seize this opportunity. After three weeks of training camp, he has no doubt that he has the internal make-up and the athletic skills to make it with the Dolphins, just like Hull felt those four summers ago. After all, it always has to start with a belief.

"If I continue to do the things I did in college, I know I can make it here," Poling says. "I look around this team and I just feel like there can be a place for me."