For all NFL Draft prospects, getting selected is a realization of a lifelong dream. And while many prospects have expected to be in that position for years, others take more unconventional paths to make it.
Getting drafted once seemed unlikely for East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel Jr., a prospect who has taken a rather unique path to professional football. What once seemed outside of the realm of possibilities is now an essential guarantee, as Revel has been graded as high as a first-rounder by some analysts.
Less than four years after being away from football and working a warehouse job, Revel will hear his name called as a member of the 2025 NFL Draft class. Here’s a look inside his path to the NFL.
📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
How Shavon Revel went from working in a warehouse to the NFL
Revel, 24, is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
A member of the high school class of 2019, he was a standout at Reagan High School but was hampered by injuries and poor performance in the classroom. As such, he began his college football career at the junior college level at Louisburg College in Louisburg, North Carolina.
The COVID-19 pandemic and more setbacks limited Revel’s playing opportunities at Louisburg, and he returned home to work at an Amazon warehouse in Kernersville, North Carolina, a town not far from his hometown of Winston-Salem.
MORE 2025 NFL DRAFT: SN’s 7-round mock | Top 250 big board | Expert mock draft roundup
After working an overnight shift in 2021, Revel made his way to Greenville, North Carolina, to attend a prospect camp at ECU, he explained to ESPN. It was at that camp that the 6-foot-2 Revel ran a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash and also recorded an 11-foot broad jump and a 39-inch vertical leap.
He was offered a scholarship on the spot on the condition that he would improve his grades enough to academically qualify.
In his first year with the Pirates, Revel recorded eight combined tackles over nine games, setting up a breakout junior season in 2023. Revel appeared in 12 games and recorded 54 tackles (including four tackles for loss), defended 13 passes, blocked multiple field goals, intercepted one pass and recovered a fumble for a touchdown.
Another week, another blocked field goal by @shavonrevel pic.twitter.com/BJNYlPf1nq
— ECU Football (@ECUPiratesFB) November 25, 2023
For his efforts, Revel was named Second Team All-American Athletic Conference.
Revel entered his senior season with high expectations and lived up to them early on, intercepting a pass in ECU’s Week 2 win over Old Dominion. He began to build on that performance in Week 3, as he returned an interception 50 yards for the second touchdown of his college career.
DON’T THROW IT NEAR @ShavonRevel 😤 pic.twitter.com/oCXhoULXDZ
— ECU Football (@ECUPiratesFB) September 14, 2024
It was in the Week 3 loss, however, that Revel was hit with more adversity as he suffered a torn ACL, effectively ending his season. He declared for the NFL Draft in November.
MORE NFL:
Shavon Revel East Carolina stats
Here is a look at some of Revel’s numbers from his career at ECU. A potentially record-breaking senior season was cut short by his ACL injury three games into the year.
| Season | Games | Comb. tackles | Int | TDs |
| 2022 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 12 | 54 | 1 | 1 |
| 2024 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 24 | 70 | 3 | 2 |
MORE NFL DRAFT:
