Noll signs with Dallas after Rams let him go

Ben Noll's journey to make his hometown St. Louis Rams is over.

But his career in the National Football League is only beginning.

When NFL teams were required to cut their rosters to 53 players on Sunday, Noll was one of 11 Rams who was released.

The 2004 Penn graduate was prepared to remain in his hometown and assume a roll on the Rams' practice squad.

But on Monday, Noll, a 6-foot-6, 315-pound guard, was claimed off waivers by the Dallas Cowboys and is now part of that team's opening day roster.

Noll could not be reached for comment; however, he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was surprised by the Cowboys.

"I came in [on Monday] thinking I was going to become a St. Louis Ram again," he said. "But things work out differently than you hope sometimes. Now I've got this new opportunity."

In order to free up space on their roster for Noll, the Cowboys chose to release their fifth-round draft pick, tight end Sean Ryan from Boston College.

Ryan was assumed to be Dallas' third-string tight end, but he ended up being the only Cowboys draft pick to not make the opening day roster.

Noll, who will wear No. 60 for the Cowboys, will be the team's backup right guard. Ahead of Noll on the depth chart is third-year player Andre Gurode.

With the signing of Noll, the Cowboys now have 10 offensive linemen on their roster.

One reason for so many linemen was the injury of third-round pick Stephen Peterman, a guard who was placed on injured reserve last Friday after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

This injury left Dallas looking for a quality replacement, and Noll's name came up.

Noll's signing makes him the 11th player from the Ivy League to make this year's opening day NFL rosters.

The only other former Penn player is Jim Finn, who will return as the New York Giants' starting fullback.

Noll will not be the only Ivy alum on the Cowboys' roster. He will be joined by defensive lineman Marcellus Wiley, a Columbia graduate.

Another former Lions player, Jonathan Reese, will play for the New York Jets this season.

Harvard has two alumni on an active NFL roster, Matt Birk of the Minnesota Vikings and Isaiah Kacyvenski.

Princeton also has two former players in the NFL, Dennis Norman of the Seattle Seahawks and Ross Tucker of the Buffalo Bills.

Cornell and Dartmouth each have one graduate on an NFL roster -- Seth Payne of the Houston Texans and Jay Fiedler of the Miami Dolphins, respectively.

Former Brown receiver Sean Morey was released by the Philadelphia Eagles as part of Sunday's cuts, but, like Noll he was quickly resigned by another team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Yale is the only Ivy school to have no alums on an opening day NFL roster.

Noll was able to make the Cowboys despite not being selected in this spring's NFL Draft.

The two Ivy players chosen in the draft -- Dartmouth's Casey Cramer and Yale's Nate Lawrie -- were not as lucky as Noll.

Both players were chosen by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lawrie in the sixth round and Cramer in the seventh round.

Both players were released by the Buccaneers on Aug. 31, as NFL teams were forced to reduce their rosters fromm 88 to 72 players.

Cramer was claimed by the Jets on Sept. 2 and stayed with the team until Sunday's cuts.

On Monday he was signed by the Tennessee Titans to play on their practice squad.

Lawrie was signed to play for the practice squad of the Eagles also on Monday.

As for Noll, he is confident that his signing is just the beginning of a long, successful NFL career.

"I've gotten my foot in the door; now I have the opportunity to grow," he told the Post-Dispatch. "As an offensive lineman, it takes years to develop into a player that can have an impact for a team. In that respect, I feel I've accomplished something."

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