The Come-Up

Before the contract,
before the lights —
who they were first.

154 stories · Updated continuously

Outside Linebacker · Las Vegas Raiders

Cian Slone

No. 48 · Rookie

A court ruling gave him back a year he thought was gone.

Cian Slone started playing football at eight years old in Rocklin, California. His father had played college football; the game was already in the family orbit. For a decade, Slone built toward the standard path — high school ball, a scholarship offer, a four-year program, the NFL if he was good enough. Then his senior season ended before it started.

An ACL injury cut his final year short. When the recruiting dust settled, there were no Division I offers. The path that seemed inevitable simply closed. At eighteen, Slone moved to American River Junior College in North Highlands, a place where second chances were business as usual.

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