TACOMA - Mike Oliphant was going to be a welder.

He was going to weld ships in the Seattle shipyard until he was old and gray. But something unexpected happened. Oliphant found football.

Or, football found him.

In 1984, Oliphant was hanging gutters for $4.50 an hour while going to welding school when he decided to try out for the Auburn Panthers semi-pro football team.

One tryout led to another. Eventually, Oliphant rewrote the record books at the University of Puget Sound and became a third-round draft choice of the NFL's Washington Redskins as a running back.

Today, Oliphant is the poster child of each player who sees semi-pro football as one more step to the big time.

"It was one heck of a ride," Oliphant said. "I was content to be a welder all my life. Playing pro football was something that was completely unexpected, something that was a one-in-a-million shot."

Oliphant is certainly the exception, not the rule. Only a handful of players have used the Northwest Football League as a springboard into the NFL. Yet the semi-pro league helps 40-50 players a year get a chance to play junior college and small college football.

Oliphant never played varsity football in high school while growing up in Auburn. There is not much demand for 130-pounders who are on the short side of 5-foot-6.

A three-inch growth spurt and an insistent friend who knew how fast Oliphant could run got him to a Panthers tryout.

Randy Moon, a teammate on the Panthers and a former UPS wide receiver, then told the coaches at his alma matter about the speedy running back.

That fall, Oliphant was ripping through UPS opponents.

"Playing pro football was something that was completely unexpected, something that was a one-in-a-million shot." Former Northwest Football League player who went on to be drafted by the NFL's Washington Redskins (1988, 3rd round).

After sitting out a season, he played with the Sacramento Gold Miners in the Canadian Football League, leading the league in yards gained from scrimmage and making the all-star team.

But a thigh injury cost Oliphant the 1994 season.

He played a few games for Winnipeg the next year before calling it quits.

Oliphant now resides in San Diego and works as a soil tester.

Only a few of the players Baines has coached have followed Oliphant's example.

Baines estimated that in the 28 years of the semi-pro league, 150 players have gone on from the league to play professional football, whether in the NFL, Canadian or Arena leagues.

"A few guys do it and a whole lot of guys have fun trying to do it," Baines said.