EAST RUTHERFORD — For three weeks in March, Giants rookie tight end C.J. Conrad was convinced by doctors that he would never play football again.

A heart issue discovered during medical checks at the scouting combine sent Conrad home to the University of Kentucky, blindsided by the opinion he should stop his preparation for the NFL Draft.

Just like that, his pursuit of a childhood dream was over.

“It was in my head every day. I would be lying if I said I thought for a second over those 21 days that I was going to play again,” Conrad said in a recent interview with NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY Network.

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“You’re just fortunate to get the opportunity to play football, let alone a chance at the NFL, and there was a time in my life not too long ago when I wasn’t sure that was going to happen.”

Things changed unexpectedly for Conrad on a trip to Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital for a second opinion, however. There, a team of cardiologists determined that Conrad did not have ARVC (Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy), as initially feared; instead, Conrad was diagnosed with an enlarged pulmonary artery, an issue that required annual observation, but came with the green light to return to the game he loved.

Fast forward to today and, through that adversity, Conrad is poised to write a comeback story with the Giants. He impressed at rookie camp and showed enough to fight for a spot at a crowded position with Evan Engram, veterans Rhett Ellison and Scott Simonson, and second-year pro Garrett Dickerson returning.

His road to the NFL has proved challenging the past four months, although now Conrad is positioned to accomplish everything he set out to do with an even greater appreciation — if that's possible — for the dream and the reality.

"I've told C.J. this: right now all of this might look and still feel like a bad run," Giants tight ends coach Lunda Wells told NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY Network. "Three years from now, we may look back on it as destiny."

Destined to be a Giant

At 6-foot-4 and 248 pounds, Conrad was considered among the Top 10 tight ends in the draft and a potential midround selection. Lauded for his blocking skills, he also caught 30 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns last season at Kentucky.

He started in 42 games in his career, finishing his tenure with 80 catches for 1,015 yards and 12 touchdown catches.

Conrad had been invited to the East-West Shrine Game, but was forced to leave before the game because of a shoulder injury he sustained in practice. That's where he met Wells, who was coaching the offensive line at the event for draft prospects.

"You cut on his tape, it doesn't take long to find out he's a player," Wells said.

The Giants were looking forward to meeting with Conrad at the combine, too.

Yet the day before their scheduled formal interview in Indianapolis, Conrad was told he had to leave, and with plenty of uncertainty regarding his future.

That didn't stop Wells from reaching out with support.

"We were always supposed to meet officially, then I got sent home, and Coach Wells joked that I was avoiding him," Conrad recalled. "He called me right after I left the combine, and said a prayer for me, and told me he’d be thinking of me, and they thought a lot of me as a player, and it meant the world to me going through those three weeks. Then, after I got cleared, and he texted me again a couple of days before the draft and said, ‘I’m thinking of you, happy for you, good luck this weekend.’"

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Since Conrad's pre-draft evaluation process was rendered incomplete, no one was sure if he would hear his name called. The Giants had him on their board, and when the seven rounds concluded and Conrad had not been drafted, Wells wasted little time in expressing interest.

"I like Conrad. He’s tough. He’s smart. He can learn," Wells said. "He’s not a blazer, but he’s instinctive in the pass game. It didn’t take a long time to figure out that this guy is very determined about being a really good player and I like that about him. He takes coaching very well. I really like that kid from what we saw over the three-day rookie minicamp."

Conrad was also a favorite at Kentucky because of who he was as a player and a person, exemplified by his weekly Tuesday visits with young patients at the UK Children's Hospital. The Wildcats were a run-heavy offense led by running back Benny Snell, a fourth-round pick of the Steelers, so Conrad accepted that his role would be as a complementary piece to the puzzle, sacrificing whatever production he may have had in a prolific passing attack.

"I’m a competitive player. I’m a tough player. I’m gonna get after it," Conrad said. "Also, when the ball comes my way, I’m gonna catch the ball and make plays. I’m playing a lot of 'Y' right now and that’s where Rhett plays. Just looking at film of what he does, he’s really good, just trying to learn how he does what he does. It’s tough without full pads on yet to get a feel in the blocking schemes. There’s a lot of things I can improve on, but I feel like when the ball came my way [at rookie camp], I made plays."

He paused before adding with a smile: "But I take pride in my blocking, and my toughness, I’m gonna give everything I have for the team, and I think that’s why I’m here."

Email: stapleton@northjersey.com

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