FLORHAM PARK -- The brutal August sun beat down on Dylan Donahue's back in team drills during a training camp practice. He leaned forward, causing his long, golden, sweat-drenched locks to fall off his shoulders. His fingers twitched frantically. He stared into the backfield and waited ... waited ... waited ...

Then burst.

On the snap of the ball, the Jets' rookie outside linebacker exploded into Ben Ijalana. He caught the left tackle off balance, dipped his shoulder, slipped around, and tapped quarterback Josh McCown for a would-be sack.

His defensive teammates erupted. Donahue let out a mighty yell, then thrust his tape-covered fist towards the ground.

Through 11 camp practices, the 24-year-old is among the Jets' top performers. His endless motor has resulted in several highlight plays, and earned him first-team reps with the nickel defense.

That's quite the accomplishment for a player drafted in the fifth-round. Then again, Donahue isn't your average fifth-round pick.

Not long ago, he was fixing roofs in Montana, having nearly thrown away his football career with his own mistakes. He reached the lowest of lows, only to rise higher than he ever thought was possible.

"Sometimes I just lay in bed and think about how I got here," Donahue told NJ Advance Media. "My life could have gone down so many different paths."

"THE ALIENS WERE COMING"

Mitch Donahue remembers it vividly. He laughs thinking about it 20-something years later. It was a semi-regular occurrence. He'd be out doing yard work at his home in Billings, Mont. His wife, Melissa, would be somewhere in the area, likely looking after their daughter, Devon. And that's when they'd hear the yelling.

Dylan, who Mitch said was always trying to make those around him laugh, would come sprinting from somewhere unbeknownst to his family, urging his father, mother and sister to get in the house. This couldn't wait.

"The aliens were coming," Mitch Donahue said. "He had quite the imagination."

As Dylan grew older, his attention turned from scoping out extraterrestrial invasions, to football. His father, who played linebacker in the NFL from 1991-94, encouraged it. He got his son involved in the "little guy league," as he likes to say. Mitch noticed quickly a difference between Dylan and everyone else.

He was a force to be reckoned with. When he got to West Billings High School, he only got better. He loved to be on the field in any capacity. Offense, defense or special teams. Game or practice.

"When he first started to play, it was on specials," said Rob Stanton, Donahue's high school coach. "In games, you just noticed random guys would be laid out in the middle of the field. Then you'd see Dylan shaking his head, jumping around and screaming. His teammates would be all around him. He did everything we asked him to do, and he usually did it 1,000 miles per hour."

With his athletic skills and pedigree, Donahue figured to be a consensus top recruit. He was a no-doubt Division I talent. But those hopes and dreams never materialized.

"HE HAD THIS GIFT AND WAS LETTING IT SIT ON A SHELF"

While Donahue thrived on the field, he struggled mightily in the classroom. He drank and partied to the extreme. His high school grades dropped as a result. He missed his junior season because he was academically ineligible. While he returned as a senior, his grade-point average wasn't high enough to qualify for a Division I program.

So he enrolled -- on his father's tab -- at Montana Western, an NAIA school. But instead of getting his life together, things continued to spiral out of control.

Donahue redshirted as a freshman. Since he wasn't playing, he continued to drink and party. His grades suffered again, and he was kicked out of school. So he returned to Billings, and began working at his father's roofing company.

Mitch was happy to have his son around on a daily basis. He'd joke with him, and try to make the long days easier to get through. But he couldn't hide his disappointment. It wasn't that he didn't love his son, but with all that talent, he didn't belong on a roof in Montana. "He had this gift and was letting it sit on a shelf," Mitch said.

He never said this to his son. He didn't have to. Dylan realized it himself.

"Seeing him give up on me was tough," Donahue said. "For the first time, he didn't think that I was going to go back and try [football]. He wasn't talking to me like he used to. He was proud of me because I'm his son, but it just wasn't the same."

Reality set in. Donahue was determined to change it.

"HE DID IT ALL ON HIS OWN"

A friend told Donahue about a junior college near San Diego - Palomar. It wasn't glorious, certainly nothing like Alabama or Ohio State, but several of its players (Saalim Hakim, Martavious Lee, Brice Schwab) went on to play in the NFL.

Donahue did some more research, then decided to give his playing career one more shot. He told his dad what he wanted to do. His dad wished him the best of luck -- and that's it.

"I've been shelling out a bunch of money for you to go Western Montana, and I keep having to bail you out," Mitch recalled telling Dylan. "If you want to go do this, you've got to do this yourself."

Donahue got a student loan, enrolled at Palomar, and walked on to the football team. Once he got on the field, it was like he never left. In two seasons, he had 19 sacks. He then got a scholarship from West Georgia, a Division II school.

"He did it all on his own," Mitch said.

In 2015, Donahue had 52 tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss and 12 sacks. In 2016, he was the Gulf South Conference Defensive Player of the Year after making 67 tackles, including 20 for a loss, and 13.5 sacks. He was a finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award, given to D-II's best defensive lineman.

The on-field accolades put Donahue on the radar of NFL teams. He attended the NFL Scouting Combine, where he put up impressive numbers. He bench pressed 225 pounds 26 times, jumped a 29.5-inch vertical, and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.75 seconds.

But more important than any measurable was the impression he made on the guy supervising the combine's linebacker drills: Kevin Greene. A Hall of Fame pass rusher, Greene had just been hired by the Jets to coach their outside linebackers.

"He has a hunter's heart," Greene said. "That's what you need as a player, playing his position. You have to continue to hunt the quarterback, and he has that. He's wild, and he's on the edge. I like that, too. It's all good."

Greene was so impressed, when he returned to Florham Park, he raved about Donahue to Jets coach Todd Bowles. He words proved convincing.

On April 29, the Jets drafted Donahue 181st overall. Greene called Donahue to tell him. Once Donahue hung up the phone, he and his dad embraced.

"He told me he loved me," Donahue said. "He told me he was proud."

"I'M JUST SO PROUD OF WHAT HE'S DONE WITH HIS LIFE"

When Donahue runs onto the field Saturday night for the Jets' preseason opener against the Titans, the first thing he wants to do is locate his family in the stands. He wants to make eye contact with his dad. After everything he's been through - the highs, the lows, the redemption - that will strike a perfectly emotional chord for him.

When told about his son's pregame plan, Mitch felt goose bumps. He was, at this moment, getting ready to fly to New Jersey. Outside of video clips he found online, he hasn't seen Dylan practice or play for the Jets. Saturday will be the first time.

He will probably feel those goose bumps again when he watches Dylan sprint furiously on kickoff coverage -- just like he used to so many years ago. Nobody at MetLife Stadium will scream louder if Donahue sacks Marcus Mariota.

But his emotions aren't just because his son is playing in the NFL. That's nothing more than a footnote.

"It wouldn't matter if he was the ball boy," Mitch said. "I'm just so proud of what he has done with his life."

Connor Hughes may be reached at chughes@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connor_J_Hughes. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.