FORMER JACKSON QB CALLIS RETURNS TO FIELD WITH INDOOR LEAGUE

Not that he wasn't a solid high school and college player, but Chad Callis appears to be about as unlikely a candidate to be competing in professional football as you'll find anywhere.

But here Callis is, playing for the Mobile (Ala.) Seagulls of the Indoor Professional Football League, one of the several newer indoor leagues that have sprouted up over the past few years.

Now in its second year of existence, the IPFL features seven teams. In addition to Mobile, squads are located in Portland, Ore.; Omaha, Neb.; Biloxi, Miss.; Boise, Idaho; Shreveport-Bossier, La.; and Alexandria, La.

"It's been great, but I sure didn't expect it," said Callis.

Who can blame him? After all, Callis graduated from Jackson High School in 1992 after starring at quarterback for the Indians. He played a couple of seasons of college football as a safety, at NAIA Lambuth (Tenn.), before returning to the area in 1994 to attend Southeast Missouri State University, where he did not play football.

So, after basically being away from the game for more than five years, how did the 26-year-old Callis recently land a spot with a pro team?

As Callis tells it, he was in Chicago last month on a business trip when he ran into some Southeast players who were in town for a combine-like tryout that was to be attended by representatives of several professional leagues.

Callis, who has been working full-time at Main Street Fitness Center in Jackson while he finishes up his degree at Southeast and has always stayed in exceptional physical condition, decided to attend the tryout.

"I don't really know why, but on a lark I just thought I'd do it," he said.

Callis evidently did well because, after returning to Jackson, he wound up getting a call from Mobile Seagulls coach Ken Burrough, a former standout receiver with the Houston Oilers. Burrough wanted Callis to attend an invitation-only tryout in Mobile that would include 55 players. Again, Callis evidently graded out well.

" He (Burrough) offered me a contract," Callis said.

And so Callis, who still lives in Jackson with his wife and their two young children, has been making the approximately eight-hour drive to Mobile for weekend games. The Seagulls have had two contests so far -- losing both -- but Callis said he's been having a blast while seeing plenty of playing time at safety and on special teams.

"It's just been a lot of fun. I've always loved football and I'm just ecstatic to be able to do it again," he said. "I still can't really believe it's happened. After college, I never thought I'd get to play again. And this has happened so fast, all of it in about the last six or eight weeks."

Unlike many players in the various indoor leagues who have their sights set -- many of them unrealistically -- on the NFL, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Callis is a realist.

"I know the Cowboys aren't going to call tomorrow," he said.

But Callis also knows that playing in the IPFL might open some career doors for him, especially since he would like to get into coaching once he finishes up his college degree, which he expects to do this year. Callis would like to eventually move to Mobile so he can attend practices while continuing to play for the Seagulls.

"They (team officials) want me to move there and I'd like to. Then I'd like to stick with it for a while," he said. "I'm mainly just trying to use this as a steppingstone, to maybe help me get into coaching. It's really been a blessing in disguise for me."

And one that was totally unexpected.