YouTube Helps DIII QB Alex Tanney Get NFL Tryout (VIDEO)

It is pretty rare that a player from a division III school actually gets a tryout let alone makes an NFL roster. There are no scholarships and the competition level relative to division I teams (let along FCS or DII) is apples and oranges. However, excellence is excellence no matter the level of competition. Sometimes guys just need a chance.

That must be what the Buffalo Bills are thinking by inviting Alex Tanney, the quarterback for DIII Monmouth College to their rookie mini-camp on May 11.

Tanney rose to prominence thanks to a YouTube video of him making some pretty incredible trick shots. As it turns out, the kid is more than just a gimmick though. He holds the career passing yards record for a DIII quarterback with 14,249 yards and holds the NCAA record for most career touchdown passes with 157 (eat your heart out Case Keenum (who has 155)).

He's not the only guy from Illinois to get his chance with a little help from YouTube. Jacob Tucker, a guard from Illinois College (another DIII school), got an invite to the 2011 NCAA Slam Dunk Competition after his YouTube video went viral. The 5-foot 11-inch Tucker went on to win the contest and is now a member of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Hmm...Maybe there is something to this internet thing after all...

Article by Travis Pulver