MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The combination of starting on a new team and training camp can be stressful.
That scenario lead the Dolphins newly-acquired cornerback Siran Neal to find a new outlet to express himself.
"Man, I just got a thing for art," Neal said.
As Neal thinks back on his love for a blank canvas, he tells WPTV Reporter Kendall Hyde it’s deeper than just making art.
Neal notes how growing up, it was his dream to one day make it to the NFL.
"(NFL) became a dream of mine my junior year of college," said Neal.
Neal's dreams of playing for the league came true in 2018 after years of hard work when he was selected in the fifth round by the Buffalo Bills.
It was an unlikely journey for the former college star who was attending Jacksonville State.
"They say I was one of the first players (at Jacksonville State) to get drafted since like 1970-something," said Neal.
It was a journey that came with adjustments.
"I had pretty good mentors in front of me," Neal said. "I had got a little frustrated at first, but they were like 'Dude, you don't understand. Like you're so athletic that you don't even know you're going to be in the league a long time.'"
However, every journey has an ending, and last season Neal was released by Buffalo only to find a new home with the Miami Dolphins through a one-year contract deal.
"Since the beginning of the year until now, (it) just has been a huge change for me," Neal said. "The new scenery and all of that, I think it was all God's timing."
Neal told WPTV why he decided to turn to art to offset his anxieties.
"It's peace for me," Neal said.
The peace has come in handy as he acclimates to a new team.
"Taking my mind places that it needs to go sometimes because being in the league can get wild," Neal said.
His art has caught the attention, and inquiries, of several teammates.
"If you ever want to buy a painting when I put this to the side after the season, we can talk numbers, but for right now, it's strictly football," Neal said.
