Forgive the media for doubting Greg Paulus when he says he sees an NFL career in his future. The idea sounds preposterous. His football credentials attached to almost any other name wouldn’t entice professional teams to watch him play on film, let alone travel all the way to Syracuse to watch him play in person.

And yet, a group of scouts – how many exactly is unknown – will trek to the Carrier Dome on Thursday afternoon for the Orange’s annual pro day to evaluate Paulus.

Something doesn’t add up.

This is a kid who has played a grand total of 12 games in the last five years. A quarterback who threw more interceptions than touchdowns in his lone collegiate season. The same player who, four short months ago, heard a resounding chorus of boos from his hometown fans every time he stepped onto the field.

Greg Paulus isn’t NFL material, right?

Then again, we’ve been wrong about him before. Plenty of times. People have doubted Paulus ever since he graduated high school. He relishes this situation. He hears the doubters and can’t help but laugh.

‘This goes back since high school,’ Paulus said in an unusually reflective moment for an athlete whose tunnel vision rarely extends past his next workout. ‘You make the decision to play basketball, they say, ‘Why are you doing that?’ They say, ‘Why did you go to Duke? You’re not going to play at Duke.”

That’s why Paulus considers his NFL aspirations just another opportunity to prove the doubters wrong.

He knows it’s a long shot. He acknowledged that the draft may not be his most likely path to the NFL. He’s too smart to think otherwise. There is a reason why he is nowhere to be found on any mock draft. There is a reason why popular scouting service NFLDraftScout.com ranks him at No. 999 among draft-eligible prospects.

In fact, Paulus doesn’t even know how many scouts will even bother to show up Thursday. Joe Casamento, his former high school coach at nearby Christian Brothers Academy, said Sunday that the only team that contacted him was the Green Bay Packers – the same team that made national headlines by bringing Paulus in for a workout last spring.

Even his brother, Mike Paulus, said it will be a challenge for Greg to convince scouts that at 6 feet 1 inch he is big enough to ever play quarterback at the next level.

But why not try? He has nothing to lose. At worst, he’s right back where he started. At best, he somehow finds a spot on an NFL roster come September. Chances are he’ll end up in a training camp this summer as an undrafted free agent, only to be cut.

After years of facing constant doubt, Paulus embraces this role. This is when he believes he is at his best.

‘First, people said he would never play at Duke, then they said he would never play football,’ said Mike Paulus, a former quarterback at North Carolina who announced in December he will transfer to William & Mary. ‘There is so much negativity. There’s the media, who may not like him just because of who he is.

‘But it’s just fuel. It motivates him. It adds fuel to his fire.’

Case in point: Near the end of a 25-minute interview at Manley Field House on Friday afternoon, Paulus grew impatient. He didn’t like the way a certain question was coming across.

Paulus interrupted immediately.

‘Are you doubting me right now? Are you doubting me?’ he quipped.

He was joking, of course, laughing heartily as he spoke. But through his playful ribbing rang a degree of honesty.

‘When I go out there and throw in a few minutes, I’m going to be firing balls today,’ Paulus continued. ‘I’m going to be out there just firing balls. You’ll see. I felt a little doubt there. I just want you to know that. I felt a little disrespect.’

This is the attitude that has enabled Paulus to silence so many doubters already in his collegiate sports career, beginning with four seasons playing point guard at Duke and culminating with a season as Syracuse’s quarterback.

Paulus lived up to his words.

He is physically bigger since the season ended. He gained about 10 pounds to bring himself near his target weight of 205 and hopes to add another pound by Thursday. The extra muscle shows particularly in his legs – the product of daily workouts alone and with the SU coaching staff. On certain days, he worked one-on-one with strength and conditioning coach Will Hicks for hours at a time.

On this day, Paulus threw for about 20 minutes, working on a series of patterns at a variety of distances. From seeing a number of throws, it is evident Paulus’ arm strength has improved.

The 16-yard outside throws that looped toward its target during the season zipped on a straight line. His throwing motion looked more effortless. During the season, he visibly labored on long passes, dipping and hitching his right shoulder to push the ball away.

In short, he looked more like the quarterback who threw for 296 yards and two touchdowns against Connecticut in late November than the one who tossed five interceptions against South Florida in early October.

‘I’m a lot better than I was a few months ago when I came to Syracuse,’ Paulus said. ‘By the midpoint of the season, I felt things were clicking. I was seeing everything consistently – what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. I got better and better as the season went on.’

Of course, every quarterback appears better wearing shorts in a gym, without defensive linemen crashing down on him and defensive backs sneaking around in the secondary. It would be na’ve to suggest otherwise. More likely than not, Paulus has finally met an obstacle he will be unable to overcome.

Then again, we’ve doubted him before …

‘If anyone could do what he’s trying to do, Greg would be the one to do it,’ Mike Paulus said.

Hard to disagree with that.

Jared Diamond is the sports columnist for The Daily Orange, where his column appears weekly. He can be reached at [email protected].

Published on March 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm