David Woods

IndyStar

As Jeris Pendleton spoke, he repeated the same word: surreal. He was once a better candidate for a weight-loss TV reality show than he was for a made-for-movies passage into pro football.

But here he is, sharing an Indianapolis Colts locker room with the likes of Andrew Luck and Robert Mathis, getting ready for his third NFL season.

"I'm here, but do I really know I'm here?" Pendleton said. "So I've never really had time to reflect. It's happened to me so fast. Guys that I was watching on TV, I'm actually getting a chance to play with them and go against them."

In some ways, Pendleton's odyssey is more improbable than that of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender whose 1976 quest to make the Philadelphia Eagles was dramatized in the film "Invincible." At least Papale had been playing semipro football.

For six years, Pendleton did no conditioning. Nothing.

He was working a $5.20-an-hour job, using food stamps to help provide for a pregnant girlfriend (now wife) and son. He was smoking cigarettes and drinking more than what he said was healthy.

Now he is 30. He is a 6-2, 323-pound defensive end for the Colts. His salary is $495,000.

"I know I've got a limited window," he said.

He said he is trying to make the most of each opportunity. He has surely done so already.

Coincidentally, it was watching the Colts in the Super Bowl on Feb. 4, 2007, that influenced Pendleton to redirect his life. He and his brother, Dennis, watched the Colts' Kelvin Hayden secure a 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears with a 56-yard interception return for a touchdown. Pendleton was familiar with Hayden because they played for rival Chicago high schools.

"Man, that's supposed to be me," Pendleton told himself.

NFL just a dream

He said the NFL was a dream, but mostly he sought a do-over. He wanted a career, not a succession of low-paying jobs.

He had been a 225-pound Division I prospect at Chicago Vocational Career Academy but conceded that he "just blew school off" in his final semester. He didn't graduate on time.

Pendleton's mother urged him to finish via night school — and he did — but he had other concerns. His girlfriend, Ashanti, was pregnant, so he went to work as a housekeeper in a nursing home to support her. Later, he made more in construction and as a security guard.

He and Ashanti lived in a $500-a-month South Side apartment building owned by his grandparents. One son, Jeris Jr., arrived in 2003, and another, Jemere, in 2007. Ashanti was supportive when Pendleton decided to enroll in college, but she had heard it before. If you say you're going to do it, she told him, then do it this time.

In 2008, Pendleton settled on Joliet (Ill.) Junior College, where Hayden had once played football. Pendleton was told he could report to tryouts, and he informed coaches he was a linebacker/tight end. Uh, the coaches replied: No, you're not. That was 100 pounds ago.

"I could carry the weight, so I didn't feel like I was that big," Pendleton said. "When we got to the running track, that's when a realized I was a defensive lineman."

He also realized how out of shape he had become. His first workout was a revelation.

"I swear, on the ride home, I was really having to say to myself, 'Do I really want to play football again?' " he said. "Because my back was tight, my legs were sore. I was just like, 'Man, am I going to have to deal with this every day while I'm playing football?' "

Workouts became easier, but none of it was easy. With no family housing on campus, he commuted 45 minutes in a 1991 Buick Park Avenue, until that broke down and had to be replaced.

He would arrive on campus as early as 7 a.m. to study and sometimes not get home until 9 p.m., after a weightlifting workout following practice. Ashanti made an estimated $800 a month working at Kohl's, working any shift available. Pendleton had seen friends and family head to college, only to return without degrees. It was a cycle he resolved to break.

"It was a lot of negative things that we could have let affect us," Ashanti said. "All we could do is pray, 'God, whatever you have for us, we are more than willing to accept.' "

Where's Ashland anyway?

Of those who tried out for Joliet's team, Pendleton said, he was the only one to endure. He wasn't on scholarship and took out loans. By his second season, he was a second-team junior college All-American and, as in high school, attracting Division I interest.

But recruiters wanted Pendleton to enroll at mid-year, and he had to graduate from junior college to become eligible. Division II schools became an option. They came after him because, well, you couldn't miss him on game film.

"Everyone he hits goes backward," recalled Tim Rose, defensive coordinator at Ashland (Ohio) University.

When Ashland first contacted him, Pendleton had never heard of the school. He thought it was Abilene Christian.

He accepted a scholarship offer from the 6,000-student university, reasoning that the north central Ohio town was close enough (330 miles) to Chicago. Pendleton brought his family with him, and Ashanti worked as a housekeeper. He needed online classes at two schools, but he gained eligibility two days before the season opener.

Ashland (pop. 20,362) calls itself "The World Headquarters of Nice People," and showed why.

"Quite honestly, the campus and the community embraced Jeris because he was kind of here on his own," Ashland coach Lee Owens said. "But he's the kind of guy you don't mind embracing because of what he does for himself."

Waiting on NFL draft

Ashland belonged to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference along with the University of Indianapolis. In Pendleton's second game, the Eagles lost at UIndy 17-12. He couldn't have known he would be back in Indy, wearing a Colts uniform, a little more than three years later.

Rose said Pendleton was a leader and role model for Ashland players, who called him "Papa J." Rose said it was easy for root for Pendleton, someone who cared for his family "instead of a person who has five kids with five women."

Pendleton was all-conference as a senior, making 84 tackles, 11 for loss. He was surprised to hear from a Jacksonville Jaguars scout, who liked his size and strength but chided him for taking plays off. Rose blamed himself for the latter, explaining Ashland couldn't let Pendleton off the field.

Moreover, Pendleton's age and school almost certainly meant he would go undrafted. Ashland hadn't had anyone selected since 1972.

One scout showed up for Pendleton's pro day, then a few more when he performed at Northwestern's pro day. There he was timed unofficially in 4.95 seconds in the 40-yard dash — which would have ranked No. 5 among defensive tackles at the NFL Scouting Combine.

His agent, Jesse LeGrange, received calls from 15 to 20 NFL teams, and Pendleton made visits to the Jaguars, Colts and New Orleans Saints. He just wanted to get into training camp somewhere.

He vividly recalled a pre-draft interview with Colts coach Chuck Pagano and General Manager Ryan Grigson. The Colts had a family atmosphere, "and I felt it right away," Pendleton said.

On the last day of the 2012 draft, the parents of Ashland quarterback Taylor Housewright held a party for Pendleton at their home, even though everyone realized there was little chance of Papa J being chosen.

LeGrande warned some teams might call just to tie up Pendleton's cell phone and block others from getting through. Then the Jaguars called. They were serious. In the seventh round, with the 228th pick, Pendleton was selected.

"To get drafted and see your name come across the screen, it's like something you just can't even explain," Pendleton said. "What's the odds of just getting drafted at that age and coming from a Division II school? I was at a loss for words.

"You've got a shot. Just go."

Feeling at home with Colts

He made the Jaguars' roster and played in their final four games. Following a coaching change, he was released. The Dallas Cowboys signed him in June 2013, but after an undisclosed injury, he was cut Aug. 26 and received a settlement.

The Colts signed Pendleton to the practice squad Dec. 3. He played in the season finale — against the Jaguars — and in both playoff games. He felt at ease immediately, joining defensive end Cory Redding on an outing to distribute Christmas toys to children soon after arrival.

He said Colts players go out together, pray together and interact with each other's families. He called it "an unbelievable locker room" in which bonds formed will outlast playing careers. And he labors daily to extend that career.

"He's getting better and better across the board," defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said. "From what he's done from the first time he was here to now, it's night and day. Even from the weight room standpoint, being in the weight room, getting his weight under control, getting his weights up.

"We'll wait for the pads to come on, but I expect big things from J.P."

Pendleton does, too. He said he knew what he wanted — for his children to grow up differently from the way he did — and what he was capable of doing.

He and Ashanti were wed May 26, 2012, and their family has relocated to Brownsburg. Their sons attend White Lick Elementary School, and Ashanti said they love having so many children to play with in the neighborhood. Jeris Jr., 10, and Jemere, 7, keep their father motivated.

It's a fire that must burn deep within because Pendleton's wife, in 14 years, has never seen him irate. Others have cursed or shouted at him, she said, and he would walk away.

That didn't apply to family. He never walked away.

"Once on the field, he's a totally different person," Ashanti said. "He zones into what he's supposed to be doing. When he comes home, he's back in husband and daddy mode."

Star reporter Stephen Holder contributed to this story. Call Star reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195.