The notion that Kevin Curtis has to prove himself in his new football home is not a novel one. That's pretty much his life story.
If you're apprehensive about whether the Eagles' newest receiver can replace the departed Donté Stallworth, you are no different from the many Division I schools that were reluctant to recruit him - twice.
"That's how it always is," Curtis said yesterday after the Eagles started a full-squad minicamp at the NovaCare Complex. "It doesn't really matter what you've done up to this point. I like the challenge and I'm looking forward to it."
Curtis' climb to the status of starting NFL wide receiver is as unlikely as they come.
He played just one year of varsity football at Bingham High School in South Jordan, Utah, and drew zero interest from Division I colleges.
"I was still developing as a player and I was always really small, but I was super small in high school," Curtis said. "I was kind of a late bloomer."
Determined to continue his football career, Curtis went 100 miles south to Snow College, a junior-college football power in Ephraim, Utah.
After catching 55 passes for 1,100 yards and 19 touchdowns in his second season at Snow, Curtis got plenty of offers from Division I schools, including Brigham Young, Kentucky and Hawaii.
He opted for a trip to London instead. That trip was sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was his Mormon mission.
"I decided that the right thing for me to do would be to go on the mission," Curtis said. "The hard thing was that I knew coming home that the scholarships weren't going to be there. I knew my decision meant I was going to have to walk on again."
That's exactly what happened, but he had no regrets.
"You learn that all the things you've relied on you have to do without," he said. "You learn a lot about yourself. I definitely grew in a lot of areas - physically not so much because I got out of shape, but mentally it was really good for me."
Once back in the United States, Curtis sought to continue his football career. "I wanted to walk on somewhere in the state [of Utah] just for financial reasons," he said. "I wanted to talk to Utah and BYU, but all the guys that had recruited me at BYU were gone and I didn't think I'd have as strong a chance to start."
He landed at Utah State, home of the Aggies.
After redshirting one year to get back in shape, Curtis earned a starting job as a junior even though he didn't have a scholarship. By the end of his junior season, some people wondered whether he was going to enter the NFL draft early. Instead, he played his senior season - finally on scholarship - and finished his career as Utah State's all-time leader in receptions with 171.
The Rams took Curtis in the third round of the 2003 NFL draft and he spent four seasons in St. Louis, mostly playing behind Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, a couple of guys who are probably going to end up in the Hall of Fame.
In March, the kid who couldn't get a college scholarship got a six-year, $32 million deal from the Eagles that included $9.5 million in guaranteed money.
"It's a good thing for direct deposit," said Curtis, who will turn 29 next month. "That way, I don't even know I have that money. I do think back all the time. I'm fortunate that I'm still playing football."
Now, he has a chance to be a starter for the Eagles. If you want to doubt that he's going to be successful, go right ahead. He understands that his appearance is not imposing.
"I'm not going to lie to you," said Curtis, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 186 pounds. "I don't really look like a professional athlete. I kind of enjoy it because when I meet people, they're like, 'That guy plays in the NFL?' I find it kind of amusing. I don't really care."