EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jon Halapio had many soul-searching discussions about his future with his former high school position coach Matt Parker and former Buccaneers fullback Mike Alstott in the fall of 2015.



Cut by three different teams within a year of being selected by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2014 draft, Halapio was out of the NFL as fast as he had entered. His phone didn’t ring after the Cardinals cut him at the end of the 2015 preseason, so he took a job at a used car dealership in St. Petersburg, Fla., to support his wife and young daughter. But Halapio refused to give up his NFL dream.



For the next 10 months, Halapio’s days began at 5 a.m. with an hour of on-field drills at Northside Christian High in St. Petersburg, where Alstott is the head football coach and Parker is the offensive line coach. Halapio would then go to the gym for a 90-minute workout before an eight-hour shift on the lot at the 3445 Car Store. That was...