GREEN BAY – Kamal Hadden hasn't forgotten about those 6 a.m. practices.

Get taped up, be on the field by 5:40 and ready to scrap for every available rep for the next two hours.

No cameras. No iPhones. No glamor. Just 160 hungry football players from all parts of the country ready to pour their blood, sweat and soul into that hard Kansas soil in hopes of one day playing Division I.

If any part of Hadden ever questioned how badly he wanted a D-I scholarship, that answer likely was somewhere on this practice field in Independence, Kan., 13 hours away from home in River Rouge, Mich.

"Everything about JUCO made you a real brotherhood," Hadden said. "Because that's all we had. We all wanted to get up out of there. We were there for a reason and it wasn't gonna be long."

Hadden arrived at Independence Community College one year after the football program was featured on Netflix's critically acclaimed "Last Chance U" docuseries. The school went 2-8 that season and the program underwent sweeping changes.

Kiyoshi Harris was now in charge at IndyCC and a well-regarded 2019 recruiting class was viewed as a clean slate for the program affectionately known as "Dream U."

Every Pirates player had his own reasons for being there, as bravado and big personalities filled the locker room. Perhaps that's why a quiet, understated defensive lineman out of Bartow, Fla., caught Hadden's eye amidst the madness.

Yes, Anthony Campbell was a different kind of JUCO player, joining IndyCC after a leg injury suffered during his senior year of high school caused a slew of D-I offers to dry up.

He wasn't about to give up on football, though. Campbell had to keep going because he knew what football could mean for himself and his family.

"I knew it could be life-changing," Campbell said. "I wanted to give my family a shot to live the best life they can – retire my mom, my stepdad. Everybody in my family, just help them out."

Seven years later, Hadden laughs about the absurdity of it all, as he peers a few lockers down and sees Campbell. How is this real life? A friendship formed in the southeast corner of Kansas is alive and well inside the Packers' locker room.

To get to Green Bay, each player followed his own odyssey.

Hadden originally was headed to Central Michigan before eligibility issues led him to IndyCC. One year later, Hadden signed with Auburn on the same day Gus Malzahn and his staff were let go.

Fortunately, the NCAA's "one-time exemption" rule came into effect after spring ball in April 2021, allowing Hadden to enter the transfer portal and hop over to Tennessee.

Campbell played the 2019 and 2021 seasons at IndyCC, returning after the school suspended football during the COVID-19 pandemic. He played two seasons at Louisiana-Monroe before transferring to Miami (Fla.).

For as far as college football would separate Hadden and Campbell, the two have been brought back together in Green Bay – still dreaming, still climbing.

"I just want to continue playing football," Hadden said. "I didn't know that I was gonna become that type of player out of JUCO. I knew I was here this week. If Coach said, 'This is the way to go. This is what we gotta do,' then let's get it done."

Finding Kamal

Hadden had the ability. Harris wouldn't have stopped in this 7,000-person suburb of Detroit amidst a recruiting trip to Michigan if the cornerback couldn't play.

Legendary River Rouge football coach Corey Parker loved Hadden. He couldn't say enough about the kid and colleges were interested. There was even an offer on the table from Central Michigan, but academic eligibility was a problem.

The NCAA allows for players to sign with both its member schools and junior colleges as a safeguard. Harris put his offer on the table. If worst came to worst, Hadden had a spot at Independence, a town of 9,000 with a college enrollment of 700.

"Everybody doesn't take the A to straight B route. Some people have to go on a little bit of a detour," Harris said. "We kind of knew talking to the coach and talking to the counselor that he probably wasn't gonna make it."

In the end, Hadden committed to playing at IndyCC for Harris, who was promoted to head coach after Jason Brown tendered his resignation in February 2019.

The Pirates underwent a complete overhaul after Netflix turned off its cameras. Harris cut 26 players from the team and signed a slew future NFL prospects, including Houston receiver Tank Dell and Seattle linebacker Tyrice Knight.

Hadden made it clear from the day he stepped on campus that his goal was to play in the SEC or a major D-I conference. Harris heard the line before from players, but there was something different about the way this youngster said it.

"You could not tell him that he wasn't going to play big-time football," Harris said. "But I was like, 'OK, Kamal. Well, we gotta get you there. There's something called an associate's degree and we gotta get your body right. Let's get in some film.' Those little things like that."

That's where the schedule came in. Idle hands can be a dangerous thing in the Kansas countryside. IndyCC was 45 minutes from the closest Starbucks and an hour and a half to the nearest airport or mall.

Harris knew if he didn't have structure, he wouldn't have a football team. So, practice was held from 6-8 a.m. followed by breakfast check-in at 8:30, classes at 10:30, lunch check-in at noon, more classes, study hall, film study, weight room, dinner and the occasional walkthrough.

Players might have time for some video games but not much else – not if they wanted to be rested to do it all again tomorrow.

"We all did the same workout. We all ate the caf-food," Hadden said. "JUCO, people don't realize how hard it is and what it takes from a 'self' perspective. You gotta really push yourself every day. We came from all these different places to go to Independence, Kan., to go to school, play football and ultimately have a dream to try to do this."

The cafeteria food was a playful point of contention among players to Harris, who heard their gripes about the thrice weekly servings of chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese.

But that's junior college, and whatever free time was available, Hadden spent spamming his film to D-I coaches. He remembers badgering one coach, who shall remain nameless but now works in the NFL, so much that he blocked him.

By midseason, the 6-foot-1 cornerback began to blow up and was ranked fifth among JUCO cornerbacks. The same coach then texted him with a scholarship offer.

"I'm like, 'Damn, then why'd you block me?'" recalled Hadden, laughing. "He's like, 'Oh, it must have been a mistake or something.' I'm like, 'All right man, that's all good.' But it was a full circle moment right there and that's how bad I wanted it."

'A huge step'

Campbell didn't require a heavy hand. If anything, the humble giant could use a shot of Hadden's swagger.

To this day, Harris can't recall a time when he needed to get on his young defensive lineman for any slip-ups. Campbell was all business from the beginning, mature beyond his years.

"He never did anything wrong," Harris said. "Always on time there and everything, showed up, busted his butt. His thing was when he first got there, he was coming in right after the Jeremaine Johnson era."

The future NFL first-round pick left for Georgia, but defensive line remained one of IndyCC's deepest position groups. In some ways, it foreshadowed Campbell's football career – talent and intrigue but still very much under the radar.

Born in Kingston, Jamacia, Campbell joined his mother in the United States when he was 14 years old. He played soccer, rugby and cricket before eventually latching onto football.

Campbell played both ways, defensive line and tight end, at Bartow (Fla.) High School. He proudly recounts his pass-catching prowess on his "seven route," always to the sideline.

Campbell's ambition grew about potentially playing the sport in college. Florida Atlantic made an offer and then East Tennessee State. It was all looking up until an injury changed everything and Campbell wound up at IndyCC.

Campbell was always taller but not anywhere close to the 306 pounds he weighs today. Harris likened him to "a long baby deer" who gradually transformed into a D-I defensive lineman.

As first impressions go, Hadden was in awe of Campbell's length, specifically his arms, when he stepped on Indy's field.

"Big dude. Big, big guy," Hadden said. "We enjoyed each other. We used to hang out and joke a lot. We spent all the time in the world together because that's all that JUCO was."

Campbell laughs remembering his introduction to Hadden, whom he jokingly calls a "hot head." But Hadden wasn't alone.

"We had about 20 of him on the same JUCO team," Campbell said. "All our cornerbacks were like Kamal – same energy, everything; just like him. That's my guy, though. A dawg."

While Hadden was a readymade perimeter cornerback, Campbell was every bit a developmental D-lineman. From the beginning, though, Campbell had a knack for batting down passes at the line of scrimmage.

Those traits, present throughout training camp this past summer in Green Bay, earned Campbell snaps in Indy's third-down rush package straight out of the gate.

"That length helped him out tremendously," Harris said. "And the thing about Anthony was his mindset. He wasn't gonna be outworked, just like Kamal. That's the thing I loved about the kids on that team – they didn't mind working."

Indy pulled off a remarkable turnaround in 2019, winning the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference with a 6-1 record and going 8-2 overall. All that halted the Pirates' momentum was the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused junior colleges to suspend play during the 2020 season.

Harris went to Boise State as the coordinator of recruiting relations/player personnel in 2021 while Hadden landed at Tennessee, fulfilling his goal of playing in the fabled SEC.

Campbell stuck around, played a second season at Indy in 2021 and earned a scholarship to Louisiana-Monroe. He registered 13 tackles (3½ for loss) and a pass deflection as a redshirt junior, opening the door for him to return home to Florida and play at the University of Miami in 2024.

"He went to Monroe (after Indy) and then I saw he transferred to Miami," Harris said. "I'm thinking, 'Man, that's a huge accomplishment. That's a huge step up.'"

Fighting for football

Campbell and Hadden went their separate ways for the most part after leaving Independence, though the two stayed connected with the other's life on social media.

The tie binding the two was adversity, though. Campbell went to Miami but played just one game while taking a fifth-year redshirt. He came back in 2024 but barely saw action, playing just 56 snaps with a half sack doubling as his only tackle.

The move to Tennessee proved to be the correct one for Hadden. He played for Josh Heupel, who had recruited Hadden while at UCF previously.

With a bit more maturity and seasoning, Hadden blossomed into a legitimate NFL prospect during his three seasons at Tennessee. He had three interceptions in just seven games as a senior, including one returned for a touchdown against South Carolina.

The Kansas City Chiefs came calling, drafting Hadden in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft (No. 211 overall). But like college, Hadden's path to the pros was not linear.

He didn't make the team coming out of training camp and signed to the Packers' practice squad. He spent his entire rookie year in that capacity until earning a place on Green Bay's 53-man roster the following year.

Hadden's up-and-down journey was a source of inspiration to Campbell, who was fighting his own uphill battle to the NFL following the nondescript senior year at Miami. He signed with Seattle as an undrafted rookie but didn't make the team.

"I was always supporting him," said Campbell of Hadden. "I was always following him. His story is crazy, too. 'Mal went from Auburn to Tennessee, then he was with the Chiefs and came to the Packers. That's my guy. That's my teammate."

Aside from a week on the Seahawks' practice squad, Campbell spent a majority of his rookie NFL season trying out for teams every Tuesday, praying somebody might sign him to their practice squad.

By Sunday, Campbell was regrettably back on his couch watching the game he loved on TV. Little did Campbell know two Packers personnel executives, Richmond Williams and Lee Gissendaner, were pushing for General Manager Brian Gutekunst to sign him.

Green Bay was among the teams that worked out Campbell. Twice, in fact. Amidst a series of late-season injuries on the defensive line, the Packers finally added Campbell to their practice squad this past January.

"(Gissendaner and Williams) were kind of on me to make sure that happened," Gutekunst said. "That's not one of those guys that I was concentrating on a whole lot, but they every week were bringing it up to me, and glad I listened."

The tragedy is Campbell's arrival in Green Bay came a week after Hadden suffered a gruesome ankle injury in the Packers' Week 17 game against Baltimore.

On just his sixth defensive snap of the season, Hadden dove fearlessly into a swarm of Packers defenders looking to tackle All-Pro running back Derrick Henry. His foot stuck in the ground and both his tibia and fibula snapped at the worst possible time for a young player trying to keep an NFL job.

"I knew what was at stake and they knew what was at stake," Hadden said. "Everybody knew what was at stake."

'We both made it'

Perhaps it was IndyCC that taught Hadden and Campbell not to quit. Or maybe their resolve runs even deeper than that.

Either way, the two former Pirates reported to Packers training camp this summer with chips on their shoulders and something to prove – to the team, sure, but more importantly themselves.

Playing on a futures contract without one dollar guaranteed, Campbell made plays throughout the offseason program, training camp and preseason. He developed a Mutumbo-esque knack for getting his hand on the football.

Hadden remembers pulling aside his longtime teammate at one point to ask Campbell how he wasn't already on an NFL roster.

"Like, how were you not on a team?" Hadden inquired. "I get that's how the league works sometimes but I'm glad he's getting the recognition he deserves, and his hard work is starting to pay off because I seen it now and I've seen it since back then."

Hadden's road to the 53 was even more tumultuous. On top of missing the entire offseason program while rehabbing his leg, Hadden was asked to move to nickel cornerback.

He'd never played the slot, only the perimeter. When starter Javon Bullard missed three weeks with a foot injury during training camp, Hadden was thrown directly into the fire.

Like always, he emerged unscathed.

"I learned I'm more mentally strong and tougher than I think," Hadden said. "I learned you can't really put a limit on yourself because I changed positions with the injury. Was I kind of all for it? You know, I'm coming off an injury and I'm still trying to make the squad and try a new position. That's odds stacked against you but I'm like, let's just take it and have the right mindset so you can react the right way."

Cutdown day still wasn't easy. Campbell and Hadden sat anxiously until the 53 players who remained were called in for a team meeting that Sunday afternoon.

Campbell immediately called his mom after discovering he was safe. She cried instantly. Campbell tried to keep it together, but seven years of emotions also forced their way out.

"I'm a fighter. I can go through anything," Campbell said. "I can overcome adversity. Anything I want, put my mind to, I can do it. Execute it."

Harris, who's now the head coach at John W. North High School in Riverside, Calif., was overjoyed when he learned about Hadden and Campbell making the roster. He hopes at some point to fly to Green Bay to watch them both play.

"I'm happy for both those guys," Harris said. "To see where they're at right now, it just tells you about the mindset and the work ethic those guys have. Because most people, they would've written Kamal off, they would've written Anthony off."

It doesn't take much to make Hadden smile, but the swarm of media surrounding Campbell after making the 53 last week drew a rise out of the Packers' second-year cornerback.

It's funny how life works. For the Packers organization and its fans, Campbell was the belle of the offseason ball. He emerged from the fringe of football to make the unluckiest bid for Green Bay's 53-man roster out of training camp.

But Hadden witnessed this Cinderella story play out in real time – from the hot days on the practice field to the stuffy weight room. The two chased their football dreams across the country and now their lockers sit just a few feet from each other.

The work is far from over. There are plays to be made and games to be won this season, beginning this Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.

But Hadden also acknowledges the low odds of he and Campbell both being on an NFL team, let alone the same one. That's not even mentioning the series of obstacles thrown their way.

Those 6 a.m. practices served a purpose, all right. They taught Hadden and Campbell discipline. The fact that they are both now Green Bay Packers, that's not only a cause for celebration but also a lifetime of gratitude.

"That's how me, A.C. and all the rest of the boys got so close because that's all we talked about," Hadden said. "Independence Community College, Kansas, to right here and we both made it."