Phil Richards

Indianapolis

Talent is the NFL's lifeblood and its acquisition is both science and art, enterprise and elbow grease, and sometimes, a little cloak and dagger.

"Every once in a while you get a guy from a school that, I guarantee you, 95 percent of the people in Indianapolis have never heard of …" said Colts general manager Ryan Grigson, a seeker who numbers NCAA Division II Concordia College in St. Paul, Minn., among the outposts he has visited in the past year.

"Our scouts do their due diligence, pull him aside, set up a private workout with him on the sly, try to make the kid take an oath to never say a word."

Hoosiers, for instance, almost certainly had never heard of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Houston, until possibly, 2012. It's the alma mater of standout linebacker Jerrell Freeman, whose 203 tackles that season represent the second-greatest one-year total in Colts history.

Grigson and his scouts found him playing for the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders. Freeman was Grigson's first signee as Colts G.M. and is perhaps the one of which he is most proud.

Outside linebacker Daniel Adongo was lured from Port Elizabeth, South Africa's Southern Kings of Super 15 Rugby, that sport's highest level of competition. Adongo had never played a down of football, but he contributed on special teams last season and shows promise as a pass rusher.

Linebacker Josh McNary came to the Colts from Fort Hood, Texas, and the U.S. Army. He was signed as a fullback prospect but took over at nickel linebacker late last season and was a solid presence in hybrid defensive packages and on special teams.

Long-snapper Matt Overton was signed off the street. He was a refugee not from Arena Football, but its developmental Arena2 league team, the Tri Cities Fever, as well as the United Football League's Florida Tuskers and Omaha Nighthawks.

All have yet to play their best football.

If you want to put a smile on Grigson's face, ask him about Freeman, Adongo, McNary, Overton and the pursuit of their next incarnation, who might already be on the roster.

His manner and voice become enlivened. Free agent help is where you find it. Finding it is the adventure.

"It's what drives us," Grigson said. "It's what's exciting."

Concordia? The New England Patriots took defensive end Zach Moore in the sixth round of the draft. The seekers are many. The search moves on.

Email Star reporter Phil Richards at phil.richards@indystar.com and follow him on Twitter at @philrichards6.