Moton Hopkins admits he wasn't much of an NFL fan as a kid, basketball was his thing; it was all about the Chicago Bulls (his dad Moton Sr. was a huge Michael Jordan fan).

So playing in the NFL wasn't really a dream or something he thought about much. As it turns out, Hopkins got pretty good at football.

But when he graduated from the University of Tulsa, nobody was calling.

After being ready to give up on football in 2010, when Hopkins found himself searching for jobs on monster.com, he got a shot to play in the CFL.

Now, Tuesday, Hopkins, a defensive tackle for the Ottawa RedBlacks this past season, will get an opportunity to show what he's got for an NFL team -- the Minnesota Vikings. He flew out of San Antonio Monday night for his Tuesday morning workout.

"It's still early so that's a good sign," said Hopkins, whose agent Greg Lake hooked him up.

"As far as I know, I'll be doing some position work, maybe run a 40, something like that. I'm not going to get nervous, if anything I'm going to have to wind myself down.

"Hopefully it works out. I want to play football. I'm pretty happy. Who wouldn't be? The goal for every athlete is you want to see what you can do, you want the chance to play against the best."

The 277-pound Hopkins, who didn't start playing football until high school, hadn't even been to an NFL game until last Thursday when went to see his former Montreal Alouettes roommate Michael Ola's Chicago Bears lose 41-28 to the Dallas Cowboys. After talking to both Ola and Indianapolis Colts' Henoc Muamba, a former Winnipeg Blue Bomber, he believes he could have a shot in the NFL.

"Being at the game, it was one of those things where I could see myself out there," he said. "(Michael and Henoc) have been real encouraging. They told me to just be myself and work hard."

Coming out of Tulsa, where he was a two-time Conference USA second-team selection, Hopkins was thinking he might get an NFL opportunity.

"Carolina talked to me before the draft and told me to stay by my phone," he said.

"I was still in school. I had a function (an Honours Society banquet) (on NFL Draft) night. I was on my phone all night, checking to see where everybody was getting drafted. It was a disappointment. But I understood, it is what it is."

When he'd all but given up on a football career, he got a call from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2010.

"I was ecstatic. I didn't see it coming," he said.

"I'd already been out of football for a year. And I figured that was about it."

He moved on to the Alouettes in 2011, missing the 2012 season with a blood clot, before returning in 2013. The RedBlacks selected him in the CFL expansion draft. Injured part of the season, he made 13 tackles in Ottawa.

If it doesn't work out in NFL-land, Hopkins is open to a return to the CFL, maybe to Ottawa, where he played sparingly at times.

"I understand why they went the way they did," said Hopkins of the RedBlacks.

"I know I didn't have the best pre-season, plus there was the fact we had great talent through the whole defensive line.

"I love Ottawa, I love the team. It didn't go exactly as planned, but it was still a good experience.

"Everybody in Ottawa was amazing."

Twitter: @timcbaines