But eight seasons gone from Blacksburg, Sorensen, 30, continues to throw himself into his weekly special-teams labor with the Cleveland Browns - his fourth organization - as if his paycheck depends on it.

For obvious reasons. It does.

"I always feel like I've got to do something every day," said Sorensen, also a backup safety. "It's not like I was a first-round pick, where you're gonna get three years to make mistakes.

"Guys like us that aren't drafted ... you know you have that chip on your shoulder always, which I think is a good thing."

Sorensen, from Falls Church, played linebacker and safety at Virginia Tech - emergency quarterback, too - but never was all-conference and went undrafted in 2001. Yet since then he has played in every NFL season and no fewer than seven games in each.

Let's just say Sorensen's no stranger to the "transactions" column: Signed and waived by Miami in '01. Signed later in '01 by St. Louis (he went to Super Bowl XXXVI with the Rams.) Waived in '03. Signed later in '03 by Jacksonville. Waived last year. Signed later in '07 by Cleveland.

Sorensen, 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, isn't special-teams captain for the Browns as he was in Jacksonville, but he's a stalwart on four units: kickoff, kickoff return, punt and punt return. He recently had a few minutes to discuss his role and his surprising longevity by phone from the Browns' training complex in Berea, Ohio.

Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518 or tom.robinson@pilotonline.com

Interesting career you've had. How would you describe it?

"Just a blessing, man, that's the best way to describe it. Didn't really have any goals set, just kind of went with the flow, worked hard, was fortunate to have some good coaches and great teammates, you know? Had some awesome opportunities and made the most of them so far."

How many guys play eight years almost exclusively as special-teamers?

"A lot of the league is made up of guys like us; you're a backup, you've got to perform on special teams. I could name a bunch, but I'm sure I'd overlook a few too, so I don't want to throw names out. But there's one or two or three on every team like that."

You get released but always find new work. What's the secret to special-teams success?

"You have to be smart, you have to play hard, you can't have a whole lot of fear out there, but you also have to produce. If you're just running around running into the (kickoff return) wedge, you're not making tackles or you're not blocking the right guy on returns, you're not gonna be around for very long."

So which special team is your favorite?

"I like kickoff. I like getting down the field fast and doing things high speed and making a play, getting blocked, beating a block. There's just a lot of joy in beating someone that's trying to block you and making a tackle. That's just a rush."

Still, smashing into that wedge has gotta hurt ...

"If they're letting you hit the wedge, you have to hit it so the other guys can play off you. ... Guys smaller than me hit the wedge, so it could be anybody in a game. The best thing you can do is just go down there as fast as you can."

Playing safety, you got your first career sack this year. Did you do a happy dance?

"Nah, just the classic fist-pump. I'm not much of a celebratory guy. I got excited, but no dances or anything like that."

Do special-teamers get the respect they deserve?

"I think they do from their teammates. You watch on TV, a guy will make a great play - and this bothers me - I'll want them to say something about that guy, but they'll go right to the commercial break. Half the time they won't even say who made the tackle. Special teams are 20 or 25 percent of the game! Those guys are making high-speed plays, big plays, and they never get talked about."

Can you go for eight more surprising years?

"It's easy to play on Sunday; it's the preparation and the competition every day. You need to compete every day and get better all the time. As long as I enjoy the preparation part of it, my body holds up and teams appreciate what I'm doing and I'm being productive, then I'll do it. But all those things have to happen, you know? You lose one of those and you're not gonna be very good."