TCU’s Doctson, Listenbee return to campus as NFL receivers

Years ago, Josh Doctson and Kolby Listenbee were two guys on a TCU practice field, a walk-on and a former quarterback, trying to make it at receiver.

Tuesday, they returned to campus as NFL draftees.

The former TCU stars, headed to pro football after being drafted last week, remembered their first years with the Horned Frogs as they spoke with reporters in their old team meeting room at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

“When he first got here, he was a quarterback in high school,” Doctson said of Listenbee, a sixth-round choice of the Buffalo Bills. “He had, I guess, some speed bumps along the way in learning how to be a receiver. I remember he was just really down on himself a couple of practices, and I used to kind of be in his corner and encourage him. Because I saw the potential in him. I saw he meant well and that this meant something to him.”

Listenbee agreed.

“I was way underdeveloped,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”

It was easy for Doctson and Listenbee to become friends. They played high school football 20 minutes apart in southern Tarrant County, Doctson at Mansfield Legacy and Listenbee at Arlington Bowie.

They watched out for each other.

“Josh was really undersized — he was skinny and stuff — but he was making plays,” Listenbee said. “I looked at him like a big brother, being from the same area, really. He helped me out with my confidence. I tried to help him out when he had bad days, too.”

By their junior seasons in 2014, both players were starting. Doctson set school records for touchdown catches and yards that year, and the next. Listenbee led the team in yards per catch as a junior and a senior.

Thanks in part to those efforts, TCU was 23-3 and shared a Big 12 title.

And they became NFL receivers.

“Me and Kolby got close over the years,” said Doctson, a first-round pick of the Washington Redskins. “He was my buddy on the field. He helped me out just as much as I helped him, in terms of complementing each other on both sides of the field.”

Five TCU players were drafted last week, including center Joey Hunt (Seattle), offensive tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai (Philadelphia) and safety Derrick Kindred (Cleveland). Five others signed free agent contracts as undrafted players, including quarterback Trevone Boykin (Seattle).

Doctson said he watched the draft with high interest last week in Washington to see where his teammates would go.

He already has an idea of what Listenbee can do in the NFL.

“Kolby’s not just a speedster,” Doctson said. “People give him that title. But you watch the film, that guy has good ball skills. He’s a guy that with coaching and seeing the vets around him, he’s going to get better, just like myself. Kolby’s ceiling is really high.”

Sounds like something that might have been said years ago.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 2:29 PM with the headline "TCU’s Doctson, Listenbee return to campus as NFL receivers."