REDMOND, Ore. — If Angelo Grose is to reach the NFL, he will take the road less traveled.
One of the stars of Mansfield Senior’s 2019 state runner-up team, Grose finished his first professional season with the Oregon Lightning on Saturday. The Lightning are one of eight franchises in Arena Football One, the most recent iteration of the popular indoor league.
A defensive back, Grose had two tackles and two assists and broke up a pass in Saturday’s 40-38 loss to the Billings Outlaws. In six games, Grose recorded 18 tackles, four assists and defended six passes.
He joined the team in mid-May after completing his final season at Michigan State last fall. Grose started 45 games and made 281 career tackles for the Spartans.
He wasn’t selected in the 2025 NFL Daft in late-April. When he didn’t sign as an undrafted free agent, he began looking for other opportunities.
“I was just reaching out to teams and they invited me out to play,” Grose said ahead of Saturday’s season finale. “I decided to give it a chance.”
Arena football is an eight-man game played on a 50 yard field. Rebound nets are placed behind the end zones and balls that bounce off them are still in play.
“It’s different, but it’s still football,” Grose said. “It took some time to adjust to the rules.”
In addition to his role in the secondary, Grose handled some of the kicking responsibilities for the Lightning.
“I haven’t kicked since high school,” he said.
With the season coming to a close — Oregon finished 5-8 and missed the playoffs — Grose isn’t sure where his football journey will take him.
“I don’t know what’s next,” he said. “Hopefully something else will come up.”
Grose said he heard from a few NFL teams ahead of the draft, but wasn’t surprised he went undrafted.
“I’m still not sure what happened after the draft,” Grose said. “I’m a little surprised I didn’t get an opportunity there.”
Regardless, Grose intends to chase his dream.
“I want to pursue football for as long as I can,” he said. “I guess my journey will be a little different.”