photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas safety Bradley McDougald takes off up the field after an interception in the third quarter against South Dakota State, Saturday, September 1, 2012 at Memorial Stadium.

Kansas University’s run of having undrafted players land on 53-man NFL rosters continued rolling along last weekend, as four former Jayhawks who were passed up during their respective NFL Drafts survived their teams’ final cuts and enter the season ready for work in the NFL.

Not a bad first day at a new job.

Two of the four were pretty much no surprise. Denver cornerback Chris Harris has become one of the top and most respected defensive backs in the league and Broncos’ linebacker Steven Johnson, though still in that position of not being able to let up for a second, also has made himself a valuable piece of what the Broncos hope will be another Super Bowl bound puzzle.

Both guys were never in jeopardy of getting cut and both guys continue to improve and impress the powers that be in Denver.

While those two sticking was hardly a surprise, the other two fell-good moments for KU football might qualify as just that.

After a fantastic preseason, cornerback Tyler Patmon made the final roster with the Dallas Cowboys and safety Bradley McDougald made good on his shot with his second team by being one of the final 53 kept by the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Patmon’s story is a little more remarkable than McDougald’s because there were plenty of people, both at the NFL and college level, who always believed McDougald would get plenty of chances to stick. That he’s done it so quickly and with such certainty is a credit to him, both mentally and physically, and the work he has put in to make his dream a reality.

McDougald was one of just four safeties and 10 defensive backs kept by Tampa Bay.

Patmon’s success story was born from opportunity. After leaving KU following his forgettable junior season, Patmon landed at Oklahoma State and became a key part of the OSU secondary that helped lead Cowboys to a Cotton Bowl berth last season.

Patmon looked like a different player during his final season in college, like a guy who needed a change and who was energized by the fresh start and new surroundings.

His strong senior season — not to mention OSU’s team success — earned him an opportunity to prove his worth with the Cowboys this season; not bad for a Texas kid. Although he needed a tryout just to be included in the crop of 90 NFL hopefuls who opened Cowboys’ training camp, Patmon survived cut after cut and made play after play. No moment was bigger than his two-interception preseason game in which he looked more like a seasoned NFL veteran than a desperate rookie just trying to survive.

“He just kind of has that way about him,” Dallas coach Jason Garrett told the team’s official web site. “Some guys do. If you watch his Pop Warner tape, he was probably making those kinds of plays. That’s just a part of him being able to play, and that’s a good thing.”

Added Cowboys’ cornerback Morris Claiborne: “As soon as he came in, he’s one of those guys that’s got that type of mentality, swagger about himself where when he walks in, he kind of (commands) that attention. He goes out and he plays lights out. It goes from the practice field, from seeing him work and taking it on to practice and from practice to the games, it’s amazing.”

So is the fact that Patmon is starting his pro career on an active NFL roster, but like Harris and Johnson before him, his story is proof that hard work and being ready to take advantage of the limited opportunities that come your way at this level of football can pay off big time.

There’s no hiding the fact that Patmon benefited from a couple of injuries to key guys ahead of him on the Dallas depth chart. But the guys who get these chances tend to be the guys who stay ready and don’t worry about the overwhelming odds stacked against them.

Harris, Johnson, McDougald and Patmon all stared up at that mountain at one point in their post-college lives. And today all four are sitting on top of it with a Jayhawk flag planted at the peak and a huge smile on their faces.

In other former KU NFL news from last weekend:

• Former KU running back/defensive lineman Toben Opurum made it to the final cut of the Houston Texans but was not a part of the team’s final 53-man roster when it was announced. The Texans, however, quickly signed Opurum to their practice squad and I think it’s a safe bet that you’ll see him active at some point — perhaps multiple points — this season.

• Former KU wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe was cut by the Dallas Cowboys, with whom he landed temporarily after being released by the Washington Redskins, his fourth team in a slow-starting five-year NFL career.

• Former Jayhawks who were drafted into the league such as Aqib Talib (Denver), Anthony Collins (Tampa Bay), Darrell Stuckey (San Diego) and Tanner Hawkinson (Cincinnati) easily made their teams’ final 53, as expected.