Miles Macik survives final cut with Lions

Macik led DetroitMacik led Detroitreceivers with nineMacik led Detroitreceivers with ninepreseason receptions When Miles Macik approached his locker and saw that it had been cleaned out, the former Penn All-American wide receiver thought that he had been cut by the Detroit Lions, perhaps ending his dream of playing in the NFL. But a quick glance to the row of veterans' lockers produced a mood swing in the usually staid wide receiver. Macik's equipment was right there along side Barry Sanders's and Herman Moore's. Miles Macik had achieved a life-long goal -- playing professional football. "It's something I dreamt of for a long time, but I didn't expect it," Macik said. "I just kept working on getting better." In the confines of the Ivy League, the 6-foot-4, 200 pound Macik towered over Ivy corners, catching a league record 200 passes in his three years on the Quakers varsity football team. But perhaps because of his lack of speed, Macik was not selected in the seven-round NFL draft, and he was forced to go the the free-agent route. But it only took a few days for Detroit to sign him. This signing was especially sweet for Macik, who lives only a few minutes from the Pontiac Silverdome. That allowed Macik to work out with Detroit quarterback Scott Mitchell two weeks before training camp began, getting an extra jump on the other rookie hopefuls. The pre-preseason work paid off for Macik, who quickly raised eyebrows among the Lions coaches with his glue-like hands and his above-average size. "Miles Macik -- what a great name for a player," Detroit coach Wayne Fontes told the Detroit News on July 25. "A movie star, maybe. I'm impressed with the way he's catching the ball. He's definitely caught my eye." Although most of Macik's action was with Detroit's second team, his performances impressed the coaching staff enough to garner some action with the Lions top squad. The fact that there were holdouts and injuries in Detroit's receiving corps no doubt helped the coaches make that decision. Macik ended up leading the team in the preseason with nine receptions for 120 yards. Perhaps the highlight of the preseason for Macik -- and maybe the Lions -- was his grab of a Hail Mary from Lions quarterback Johnny Johnson with no time remaining in a game against the Saints. The touchdown brought Detroit within a point of New Orleans, but the Lions missed a two-point conversion and lost the game. "Things couldn't have gone better," Macik said. "I played well enough to take the pressure off myself and put it on the administrators who were making the decision." Macik feels that the Lions, even though they have perhaps the deepest receiving corps in the NFL, with Moore, Brett Perriman, Johnny Morton, Aubrey Matthews and Glyn Milburn, gave him one of their last roster spots because they were afraid another team would pick him up. The Lions kept seven wide receivers, and Macik, as a rookie, is realistic about his playing time. He expects to see occasional action on special teams, but he will primarily serve as Moore's backup on the right side. Moore, a five-year veteran out of Virginia -- which Moore dubbed the "Ivy League of the South" -- quickly bonded with Macik. However, it wasn't all smooth sailing for Macik, who received his fair share of monster tackles in the preseason. "I didn't get tackled like that in college," Macik recalled. "The tackles [in college] didn't hurt me." Welcome to the NFL.

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