UDFA Zach Zenner to decide on med school after trying to make Lions

Detroit Lions running back Zach Zenner has a bright future ahead of him regardless of whether he carves out a career in pro football.

The running back signed with the Lions as a free agent after going undrafted. The three-time 2,000-yard rusher (how many guys can say that?) out of South Dakota State may have scared some teams off with his aspirations beyond football.

Zenner wants to be a surgeon and has already been accepted into the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota.

Zenner says he's willing to wait to realize that dream, however, and has deferred his enrollment.

"I'm going to give this NFL thing its full chance," Zenner told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press after the Lions' rookie minicamp. "And you have to delay enrollment for the whole year, so I'd have a whole year to maybe get picked up by another team, maybe go play for an arena team or something like that (if things don't work out with the Lions)."

The Lions used a second-round draft pick on running back Ameer Abdullah and have veterans Joique Bell and Theo Riddick on their roster, so Zenner's path to playing time won't be an easy one.