Former French Camp quarterback Jesse Hosket went undrafted by NFL teams following his senior year as quarterback at Southeast Missouri State, but it did not take the Oakland Raiders very long to contact him.
“They called me about 18 minutes after the draft and invited me to come to their camp,” he said. “I was overwhelmed. It’s like nothing I have ever experienced before.
You work hard all your life and you get an opportunity to keep playing. Not too many guys can say they get a chance to play at that level.”
His participation at the Raiders’ minicamp for rookies did not result in a contract, but it was a positive experience.
“Just being around guys like (Raiders coach) Jon Gruden and (offensive coordinator) Greg Olson — it’s just crazy to think you are in the same meeting room and on the same practice field with those guys.”
Hosket said the Raiders were set at quarterback, but he feels he displayed a strong arm during the minicamp and he is hoping some other team might contact him. If not an NFL team, maybe a team from the Canadian Football League.
More than anything, Hosket said minicamp was a learning experience. “There were a lot of meetings, a lot of learning and a lot of studying of the playbook. I’d do a lot of staying up all night learning the plays we would run the next day. Then I would go out and try to execute those plays. They wanted to know who could learn the plays, pick up on them, and be coachable.”
Practices included 7-on-7 drills and full teams.
Hosket was the Mississippi Association of Coaches 1A player of the year in 2013 when he led French Camp to the state championship. After stops at Itawamba Community College and East Central Community College, he started as quarterback at Southeast Missouri in Cape Giradeau for two years, passing for 4,155 yards.
It was a combination of his size – 6-4 and 221 pounds – and a strong arm that resulted in his invitation to the mincamp.
Hosket graduated from Southeast Missouri with a degree in construction management. He has a job offer in Cape Giradeau, but is not sure if he will take it. He is sure, however, that he will continue training while awaiting another shot at pro football.
