While Sunday's Super Bowl brings an end to another NFL season, this week also marks the beginning of one former Oregon Duck's long-awaited NFL opportunity.



Three years after an NFL snub led him to the Canadian Football League, linebacker and special teams standout Boseko Lokombo is headed to Baltimore.



Shortly after the CFL's B.C. Lions granted Lokombo early free agent status Monday, he signed a three-year reserve/future contract with the Ravens, he told The Oregonian/OregonLive, which the club confirmed.



Lokombo plans to move to Baltimore by spring to take part in April offseason workouts and begin the NFL opportunity he's sought since his final season with the Ducks in 2013.



It will be just the latest stop in Lokombo's globe-trotting story. His family moved from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Quebec, Canada, when he was 6, before moving west to British Columbia. Though he only began playing football at age 14, he caught UO coaches' attention while playing at South Eugene High School as a junior in 2007, before returning to British Columbia to finish high school.



At Oregon, Lokombo had 63 tackles in his senior season before undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn left labrum. When no NFL teams drafted him or called in free agency, he headed back to British Columbia to play for the Lions, who had drafted him prior to his senior season in order to hold his rights.



In 43 career games spanning three seasons with the Lions, Lokombo recorded 33 tackles on defense and 44 on special teams and was named a CFL Western Division All-Star on special teams in 2015.

Lions GM and head coach Wally Buono called Lokombo "a talented and exciting player who brought an extra dimension to our defense," in a news release.



Lokombo's deal with the Ravens came shortly after the 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker reportedly worked out for the Ravens last week, along with a handful of other free agents, according to ESPN. Reserve/future contracts are reserved for players who were not on an active NFL roster at the end of the previous season, which covers free agents such as Lokombo, as well as practice-squad players.



Those on reserve/futures deals cannot officially be added to a team's offseason roster until the the new league year begins March 9. From there, they must win a job in order to stay on the roster.



It's an arduous path to the league, but not impossible, and if Lokombo watches Sunday's Super Bowl, he will find one such example. Two years after signing a reserve/future deal with New England, running back Dion Lewis is expected to play a large role in the title game against Atlanta.





-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif