CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As he waited for a team, any team, to call him, Robert McClain grew to love the jogging trails around Buford, Ga. He ran daily, always on his own, unless you count Melo, his 6-year-old German shepherd.

Melo became a dependable training partner, even as McClain began to wonder what he was training for. Released by the New England Patriots in September, McClain, a seventh-round draft pick out of Connecticut in 2010, tried out for 10 teams during the fall, hoping for another opportunity. Nothing came. Time passed. The routine remained: McClain running after Melo running after a tennis ball.

“He’ll take off and I’ll try to keep up,” McClain said. “As long as he didn’t see a squirrel, we’re good.”

Passers-by would have no conception that the 27-year-old McClain, an inconspicuous 5 feet 9 and 190 pounds, would soon be starting at cornerback for the Carolina Panthers in the N.F.C. championship game, transported here less than six weeks ago after a series of late-season injuries to the Panthers’ secondary.