NFL comes calling for C.R. Titan Nick Haag

Week after week, year after year, players in the Indoor Football League continue to grind out their place in the game they love, holding on to that National Football League dream.

For former Cedar Rapids Titans linebacker Nick Haag, that dream took a titan leap on Monday.

Haag, 26, received a call late Sunday night from Indianapolis Colts scout Jon Shaw with an offer to fly to their facility in Indianapolis for a workout. After running a 40-yard dash and performing in some linebacker drills, the session was abruptly halted.

'Midway through it they stopped and they had seen enough,” Haag said in a phone interview with The Gazette. 'They pulled me aside and told me that I was going to be an Indianapolis Colt.”

Haag signed a three-year deal for the league minimum. A spot opened up at linebacker after the Colts waived outside linebacker Cody Galea, who injured his hamstring in Sunday's preseason opener at Philadelphia.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Haag is coming off a standout second season with Cedar Rapids. Haag led the Indoor Football League in tackles for much of the season before missing the May 30 game at Green Bay to work out for the Jacksonville Sharks of the Arena Football League. Haag finished the season with 94 tackles and four sacks, and will now fight for an NFL roster spot.

'It's an absolute dream come true,” Haag said. 'It's the first step and now it's just time to go to work and make this happen.”

Shaw and the Colts had been in contact with Haag since the Titans first bye week in early April and are the first NFL team to invite him to work out.

A native of Worcester, Mass., Haag started his collegiate career at the University of Massachusetts before captaining Division II Assumption College in 2012. Following college, Haag spent time with both the Philadelphia Soul and the Chicago Rush of the AFL before landing in Cedar Rapids. Now, it's on to the NFL.

'The people that are closest to me, the close-knit group that have stuck with me my whole life, this isn't just for me,” Haag said. 'This is a celebration for all of us because they're just as big a part of this as I am. It's for everyone to enjoy.”

Haag will wear No. 47 for the Colts, which hosts the Chicago Bears for a joint practice this week in preparation for their preseason game Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (Iowa time) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The game will be televised locally on KFXA.

'It's crazy,” Haag said. 'It's all about to be happening.”

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com