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Remember Brandon Copeland, a former wide receiver at Page High School? No? That's OK. He understands.

"I think I was like second-team, honorable mention or something," Copeland said.

No, he wasn't as well known as DeMario Pressley, who was the top-rated defensive tackle in the nation when he was a senior at Dudley. Or Jerome Simpson, who had starred on back-to-back state championship teams at Reidsville. Or William Hayes, who had recruiters from schools such as North Carolina and Clemson visiting him at Andrews.

Today, though, Copeland will be doing the same thing those guys will be doing for the next few days — reporting to an NFL rookie minicamp. Not bad for a guy who played at Division III Bridgewater (Va.) College.

"It's going to be a great story," said Greg Raleigh, Copeland's agent.

It already is. The self-described "late bloomer" who couldn't scare up an offer from a Division I school coming out of Page had multiple offers from NFL teams this week to try out at their minicamps. Copeland went with the Cleveland Browns, who were the first to give him an invite, around 9:30 Sunday night.

"It's a one-time opportunity," Copeland said. "If they call and you reject them, you can't call back and say, 'Hey, I changed my mind.' "

Other teams called the next day. Raleigh said the Giants, Raiders, Saints and Eagles were all interested in Copeland. But you can't blame Copeland for not wanting to wait. His opportunity — a Division III player getting a shot at the NFL — is a rarity. This wasn't the time to get picky.

"It's a dream come true," Copeland said. "I'm blessed to even have a shot to perform in front of the (Browns coaches)."

Blessed, sure. But Copeland played a pretty big role in getting this far. Overlooked in high school because he was 5-feet-9 and around 160 pounds, Copeland hit the weights when he got to Bridgewater, putting on almost 35 pounds of muscle (it didn't hurt that he also grew 4 inches). He joined the Bridgewater track team, improving his speed to the point where he could run sub-4.5-second times in the 40-yard dash. And Copeland put up numbers for the Eagles, catching 53 passes for 675 yards and nine touchdowns last season.

"We probably had 18 scouts come in to look at game film," said Bridgewater coach Mike Clark, who used his contacts to spread the word about Copeland. "There are not a lot of sleepers out there anymore. If somebody's out there with ability, they'll look and evaluate."

It wasn't enough for Copeland just to be discovered. When the scouts watched at the pro days he attended, he had to deliver. Copeland came through, running the 40 in 4.45 at James Madison and 4.47 at Virginia Tech. He also showed off a 39-inch vertical leap and bench-pressed 225 pounds 16 times in Blacksburg, an impressive number for a wideout.

"He's a Division I kid that was playing Division III football," Clark told Steve Marshall, the Cleveland Browns' offensive line coach.

Can Copeland become a Division III player with an NFL future? The next three days will be his first chance to answer that question. Copeland will catch a flight to the Browns' rookie minicamp early this morning and fly back late Sunday. In between, he'll perform in front of curious coaches who will try to figure out if the kid is the real deal.

"This is going to be a beautiful thing," Raleigh said.

But it's not a sure thing. Copeland could be let go by the Browns before he ever makes it to training camp. And once at that camp, he would have to claw his way up the depth chart to make the final 53-man roster or even the practice squad.

If it doesn't happen for Copeland, there's always grad school. He'll graduate in a few days with a degree in biology and plans to one day become a veterinarian.

No need for fall-back plans just yet, though.

"I'm going to try to ride the dream out as far as I can," Copeland said.

The dream has taken him from Page to this point. Who's to say Copeland can't ride it all the way to the NFL?

Contact Jim Young at 373-7016 or jim.young@news-record.com