Colts sign Miami basketball player Erik Swoope

Not all paths to the NFL are created equal. Some players spend hour after hour on the field and in film study, braving the toughest conferences and competition possible to try to build a case that will make a scout convince a team to take a shot on them. 

Other players have done none of those things but possess the unteachable athleticism that doesn't come along every day, making the prospect of channelling that power onto the gridiron a tantalizing proposition. 

The Indianapolis Colts found a player that fits the latter description on Sunday, signing Erik Swoope of the Miami Hurricanes as a tight end. 

Swoope, who played 110 games of basketball as a forward for the Hurricanes, has no football stats to speak of when comparing him to the rest of the 2014 tight end class. In fact, he's never played organized football at any level. 

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Swoope is the ultimate project player, one that the Colts are hoping blossoms into the next Antonio Gates or Jimmy Graham. 

Graham, a two-time Pro Bowl tight end and 2013 First-Team All-Pro, took a similar path, playing four years on the Hurricanes basketball team before getting one season of football under his belt en route to being a third round pick of the New Orleans Saints. 

The Saints brought Graham into the fold slowly, starting him in only five games behind veteran Jeremy Shockey. If Swoope makes the roster he will likely slot in behind Coby Fleener on the Colts depth chart.