Landon Cohen was signed by the Seahawks on Jan. 5. (Courtesy of the Seattle Seahawks)

Over the years someone would see Landon Cohen in the newspaper, or maybe even on television, and think, "That guy … wait … is that the valet?"

Yes, sometimes Landon Cohen parks cars. And sometimes he plays in the NFL.

Cohen, amazingly, did both this month. And now he's one win from parallel parking a Super Bowl ring between his knuckles.

As most fantasies go, Cohen's January has been the definition of awesome. Four weeks ago, he and two lifelong friends were running their valet service in Spartanburg, S.C. One workout and a few phone calls later, the journeyman defensive tackle landed with the Seattle Seahawks, despite not having been on an NFL roster the entire regular season.

Seahawks tackle Jordan Hill went down with a knee injury on Jan. 4, and Cohen got a sleepy, midnight call from Seattle the next day.

"Landon was a very active player," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said after bringing Cohen aboard. "We had our eye on him."

Cohen, 28, was inactive in the Seahawks' first playoff game against the Carolina Panthers, but played a healthy role (14 snaps) in their wild NFC Championship win over the Green Bay Packers. That included two crucial goal-line stands early in the game. And he even got in a lick on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

"It's been a nice little ride," Cohen said with a chuckle this week.

That's an understatement, but that's also Cohen: 6-foot-1, 300 pounds, even-keeled and pragmatic. He quotes the laid-back life wisdom of Bob Marley and says the Super Bowl is "big," but adds that he wants to do something "even bigger" in his life.

Cohen has learned to try to keep his emotions grounded. This is what happens when you get drafted out of Ohio (University, not State) in the seventh round by the Detroit Lions in 2008 and go through your rookie season on the first 0-16 team in NFL history. Or when you get signed and released by eight different teams in seven years – a career that has included stops with both the New England Patriots (2010 and 2011) and Seahawks (2011 and now). Or when you live your mornings in the YMCA, alternating between weight training and yoga and boxing.

View photos Landon Cohen played 13 games for the Chicago Bears in 2013. (Getty Images) More

And after all that? Then you spend the larger part of the past three years parking cars. That's what makes Cohen a fun NFL story this week: His existence on a Super Bowl roster is more a matter of sheer determination rather than blessed talent. Ask any NFL player, and they will say this is the truly admirable grind – having the mental strength to see a roster need and fill it. Maybe only for a week, or a month … or, if fortune smiles on you, an entire season. And when it ends? You work a normal job, like running a valet service.

There are a lot of NFL guys like this – annually blending in with mortals while awaiting the next opportunity to put on that NFL cape. In the rarest of opportunities, they get to step out of the phone booth and onto the Super Bowl stage.

"It's crazy," said Jeffrey Dawkins, Cohen's childhood friend and a co-owner of their Spartanburg valet business, The Valet, LLC. "A couple weeks ago, he was parking cars. Now he's in a three-point stance. Crazy."

It's crazy because Cohen has actually managed to juggle both pursuits. Unsure if he'd get another NFL shot after signing and getting cut by the Philadelphia Eagles in less than one day in 2012, Cohen started his own business. Sitting out the entire 2012 regular season, he launched an events-based car-parking service in his hometown of Spartanburg with Jeffrey and another childhood friend, Terence Dawkins.

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