Remember that guy? Remember when he got a standing after his first career carry? And remember that it went for no gain?

The highlights, be they the ones against pretty good competition in college or the flat-out ridiculous ones in high school, are legendary. (That screen pass is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen.)

We all marveled.

All.

You know Charles Sims, right? Easily the most soft-spoken player I’ve come across since Noel. It’s hard to get a lot of emotion or even insight out of Sims because he’s just a quiet kid who probably isn’t very comfortable in the interview setting.

But when we asked Sims about going through the pro day workouts with Noel last week, even he couldn’t help but make the point about Noel. He’s that guy. 

“When I was back in Houston, I used to watch highlights of him,” Sims said. “Nice player. I didn’t know he was that small, but he’s fast. Pretty smooth, too.”

Sims is the one going pro, mind you. And when he was one of the most productive freshmen in the country in 2009 and Noel was a junior, Sims was watching Noel tapes.

Now Noel’s trying to go pro. He’s giving it a try again, hoping to get a second chance. Or maybe he’s hoping to get his first chance for the second time.

I kind of lean toward the latter. Not because his own anguish got the better of him three years ago when he left the Philadelphia Eagles camp after going undrafted and having another friend die and not knowing how to deal with either issue.

I think the deck has been reshuffled and the cards have been dealt appropriately. The league has a place for a guy like him. He’s not going to get a big contract of a lot of playing time. He’s going to get a few snaps a game for probably the league minimum, but a team can find a few plays or a few ways to make the most of the skill that still exists.

The past two years, he was in the CFL and he did OK. Not great. But OK.

Yeah, his coach last season was Dan Hawkins, but, and this may surprise you, that didn’t work out. Hawkins, who replaced Marc Trestman after he was hired by the Chicago Bears, was fired after five games and things were so out of sorts and players were so disheveled that the general manager took over, restored order and coached the team the rest of the season. Still, Devine only played in six of 18 games, though his numbers were up, especially on special teams.

“Marc Trestman used me in a way I’d never been used before,” Devine said. “I’d go out in the slot and get screen passes and I took it and ran with it from there. I realized what I could do with my speed and quickness out in the open field, rather than just running through linebackers. I felt like Coach Trestman used me the correct way.”

There are small guys in the league, and I’m not talking about Tavon Austin and Darren Sproles and Dexter McCluster … but, you know, they’re small, too. Trindon Holiday. Jacquizz Rogers. Ace Sanders. De’Anthony Thomas is going to get drafted. Those guys are in the league and I don’t see people worrying about what happens when a safety folds them up.

I don’t now, I guess I have a hard time believing Noel isn’t at least the same specimen that those guys are. And I guess I want to see what happens when a coach who knows what he’s doing gets a chance to work with Devine free of distractions, because, man, life has not been easy on the little guy.