He played the sport he loved for over 2 decades and was eventually told by two NFL teams that he wasn’t good enough. Those words hurt, but Derek West didn’t allow football to be his only identity.
Derek is a 5th generation Arvada, Colorado native. He won a state championship in high school at Pomona and was a freshman at CU when the Buffs won the National Championship. After a solid career at CU, the 6’7” offensive lineman went to the NFL Combine and was drafted by the Colts. He was bit by the injury bug for most of his time in Indi and was released after 3 seasons. After a stint in NFL Europe with the Rhein Fire, Derek got some game tape and came back to the states where he was briefly signed by the 49’ers then the Cardinals. Both teams told him he wasn’t good enough to play in the NFL anymore.
So Derek started retirement and has spent the majority of it in the sports supplement industry. He also met his wife Cara, who grew up in Boulder and played softball at Nebraska. They have two daughters who are currently college athletes themselves: Jordan plays softball at Colorado State and Ashley plays volleyball at Utah. For the record, Derek did get long time CU Coach Bill McCartney’s blessing to marry a girl who went to Nebraska.