Former Nashua North standout Curtis Harris-Lopez has declared himself eligible for thiis spring's NFL Draft. (JMU Athletics photo)

NASHUA – They were friends together, teammates on the Nashua Elks Crusaders. Then they became rivals on the turf at Motta Field, Curtis Harris-Lopez leading the way as a generational player for Nashua High School North and Jason Compoh standing out for Nashua South.

Then they went off to college to Compoh at Merrimack College and Harris-Lopez at Holy Cross, then James Madison.

But throughout all those years, the two friends shared a common dream: to play professional football.

“Since football in second grade,” Harris-Lopez said. “It’s everything I’ve ever worked for.”

“Oh yeah,” Compoh said. “Ever since I was a kid.”

This weekend, or in the days or weeks that follow, they both hope their dreams come true.

Both have been working out religiously since their final collegiate seasons ended. They’ve had their pro days, and both have agents. They are extreme longshots to be drafted by the NFL, but what happens is as soon as the NFL Draft ends around 7 p.m. Saturday, teams begin calling undrafted players as rookie free agents, and either signing them or bringing them in for workouts.

A call. A chance. A visit. A training camp invite. That’s when the dream lives, and could live for a long time, even if they don’t get signed right away.

“I’m a firm believer that anything’s possible,” Harris-Lopez said last week, noting that he’s a man of faith and believes in a divine plan. “I think a camp invite is definitely possible for me and it’s something I hope for. I just hope somebody takes a chance on me.

“I’ll be watching (the Draft, which he officially declared for in January), because you never know, but hopefully I’ll get a call later that night or after – however long it takes.”

Compoh isn’t expecting to be drafted, but his phone, too, will be on on Saturday night and beyond. And their agents will be on speeddial.

HARRIS-LOPEZ PROCESS

Harris-Lopez, who was a top safety/kick returner at Holy Cross and then after graduating used his final year of eligibility at James Madison, ended his college career under the bright lights of the FBS Playoffs, at Oregon. Then he set out with one goal, working tirelessly toward it since the final horn sounded at Oregon.

“It’s a very long and hard grind,” he said, noting he has been training in Westborough, Mass. under the direction of trainer Sean Smith at his facility known as Exceed, also with four or five other athletes.

“I got to see new people, see their journeys, see how they got to the same spot I got to, and make new friends, which is awesome,” Harris-Lopez said.

He had a Pro Day – where NFL scouts work out prospects at their school – at James Madison a few weeks ago. There were, Harris-Lopez said, about 13 teams including the Bears, Ravens, Packers, Cardinals, Panthers, etc. and “I got chance to showcase myself, show what I’m about,” he said. “It was a lot, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

The schedule was this:Monday-Tuesday were days for speed work and change of direction work – some combine type drills; Wednesday was a recovery day with dealing with flexibility and soreness. The week wrapped up Thursday and Friday with a similar routine to the early part of the week, also including lifting, etc. “Just getting stronger and trying to get faster.”

Three months of a hard regimen. Does Harris-Lopez feel that he’s on scouts’ radar? “I do,” he said. “I hope so, honestly. I’m confident in myself and everything I’ve done, from grade school football until now, I feel I’ve done enough to put myself out there, and show the scouts and everyone else around the world that I’m capable of being an NFL caliber player. Only time will tell.”

His agent is Robert Walker, who has kept in constant contact with him, making sure all is OK with him and his family, “more than I thought an agent would,” Harris-Lopez said, noting that Walker sends podcasts or videos also dealing with mental health and confidence tips, plus other athletes’ experiences with the NFL and the process. It’s all good advice for an athlete chasing a dream, because the mental aspect is huge.

“There’s a lot that goes into it mentally as well,” Harris-Lopez said. “Almost fearing the unknown, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The final step in Harris-Lopez’s amateur career was the biggest, and it carried rewards. He spent his final year of eligibility playing for James Madison University, which had made the move up from the FCS (where Holy Cross was) to FBS. Harris-Lopez didn’t get as much playing time, but he got valuable experience at a higher level including playing at Oregon in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.

“JMU was everything I thought it was going to be,” Harris-Lopez said. “I’ve had teammates and other friends who played FBS football, and what they explained to me it would be like, was everything they said it was going to be.”

And in Harrisonburg, Va., as Harris-Lopez said, “The town is built around the school. There’s no NFL team. … Everyone cares so much about JMU football.”

Playing in the national quarterfinals on national television, Harris-Lopez said, “was an amazing experience. I had never been out (to Oregon) a day in my life. Experience a new state, new atmosphere of people, awesome stadium, fans decked out in yellow and green, it was so loud. Everything you ever dreamed of or wanted as a football player and seen on TV. It was just very cool to live through.”

The thing was, Harris-Lopez could have bypassed the extra year and gone through this process a year ago. But he had valid reasons not to.

“I just felt I needed another year to kind of put more on the table for me,” he said, “so I used it.”

It set the stage for his Pro Day, but that was a day Harris-Lopez made sure not to get too amped up for. “The biggest thing for me was not psyching myself out in that moment, and not making the moment bigger than what it really is,” he said. “Something I told a kid I was training with. I said, ‘Listen.It’s just as if we trained in a little dome. Pretend you’re in dome, man. Me, you and the rest of the guys here, running and doing what we’re supposed to do…There’s no difference than what we’ve been doing. It means a little bit more, but don’t make it feels like it means a little bit more. Just do what you normally do.”

The thing is, Harris-Lopez now knows that any workouts he’s doing for teams, if he has a camp tryout, etc., that video is available for the entire NFL.

“That’s 32 whole opportunities,” he said, for something good to happen.”

With everything he’s helped him with, Walker gave Harris-Lopez one big piece of advice.

“He said ‘Right after the draft’s over, make sure your phone’s ready, you never know what could happen,'” Harris-Lopez said. “Any opportunity is awaiting. He said to be ready.”

Nashua South alum Jason Compoh is looking for a shot at an NFL camp or possibly with the CFL after finishing his college career at Merrimack. (Instagram photo)

COMPOH AND CANADA

The call for a football future can come from anywhere, anytime, as Compoh discovered a couple of months ago. He was in the cafeteria at Merrimack College one day in mid-February, as he was continuing, like Harris-Lopez, his prep workouts to see if he can get an NFL camp opportunity.

He had missed a call and saw he had a voice mail. He was going through his voice mails and came to this one that said they were from the Toronto Argonauts and to call them.

“I thought it was a prank at first,” Compoh said. “I was like, ‘Whoa, is this real?’ So I brought it to my coach, and he said ‘Yeah you’ve got to call him back.'”

Compoh, who had 59 tackles and 4.5 sacks in his Merrimack career, had played in an All-Star game in Texas called the DreamBowl that had a lot of FCS players and even some Division II and III talent, and that’s where the Argonauts spotted him.

Compoh referred everything to his agent, Florida based Devin G. Young, and the way things were left that he will give it time to see if anything happens with the NFL and if not within a few weeks, he’ll go up to Toronto for tryout.

“If I don’t hear anything with the NFL, then I might go up to the CFL and try out,” Compoh said. “The other opportunities to continue playing football, those are still part of the dream. I’d definitely take those, easy.”

Merrimack did not have a Pro Day this year, so Compoh did his at Holy Cross.

“It went decent,” he said. “It’s not like I had crazy Pro Day numbers, but I think I helped my case if anything.”

His agent is Devin G. Young, based in Florida.

Pass rushing is what Compoh does; he was a linebacker with Nashua South (as well as a running back), and Merrimack put him on the line as an edge rusher. It was a great experience, as “I feel like I have so many brothers now, people I can talk to anytime if I need anything. I’ll miss my time being there a lot.

“As a football player, I’ve evolved so much from my time at Nashua South, where you can depend so much on just your athletic abilty. I’ve come to learn the game more, hone your technique. I still have a long way to go, but I’ve learned so much. I love D-line, my hand in the dirt, I love being in the trenches. I love the physicality of it, that’s what I love about football.”

Even at the Dream Bowl, Compoh interviewed with some NFL teams. “It was nice to be able to do,” he said, noting that the questions from teams ranged from “Tell me your story, what you’ve been through” to “Do you have any speeding tickets” and even “Fourth-and-10, draw up a play.”

Compoh said he’s been told that the pros would look at him as an outside linebacker type at 6-1.5 about 255-260, , a hybrid edge player in perhaps a 3-4 defense. He played in college at 240 but knows the next level would require more weight/strength.

Toronto would be different, a traditional defensive end, because in Canadian football, there are 12 on each side of the ball, not 11. “A lot of their ‘D’ ends are like speed D-ends, they require more speed,” he said, adding he watched come CFL tape and researched the different rules. “I was surprised at some of the rules, I wasn’t aware of them, like the field being bigger, the defensive lineman have to line up a yard back.”

Meanwhile Compoh is also focusing on his Masters in exercise/support science, and he plans on continuing school. He’s taking extra courses and get into “the sports medicine-type realm.”

THE TIME IS ARRIVING

And now, the time has come. The dream could be realiezed for one or the other in the next 24 hours with a phone call, or in the next few days, or even in the next few weeks.

While due to his studies Compoh will be on the Merrimack campus in North Andover, Mass., Harris-Lopez plans on being home in Nashua this weekend with his family.

“I just have a feeling,” Harris-Lopez said, “that I’m going to get at least one opportunity, and then I go from there.

“I’m excited for it. Very grateful to even be in this opportunity.”

Is Compoh nervous, excited, or both?

“Definitely both,” he said. “Different environment, skill level, it’s all, I just got to hope. It’s all in God’s hands.”