THOMASVILLE — A former Brookwood Warrior is on the warpath to the NFL.

Robert Shiver, who served as a long snapper for Auburn the last three years, signed with the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday as a free agent.

“It’s a real exciting time right now,” Shiver said. “Everything’s kind of falling into place. It’s just been a lot of fun so far up to this point. The next step is just getting to Atlanta and trying to win a job.”

Shiver credited his workout at Auburn’s pro day for getting noticed by the Falcons and special teams coach Keith Armstrong.

“Teams started to call after that and were showing a lot of interest. I heard there was a small chance I would get drafted,” Shiver said.

Shiver said during the middle of the seventh round on Sunday he started to receive interest from the Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints.

“After talking with my agent, I just felt that Atlanta was the best situation for me and gave me the best opportunity to play,” Shiver said. “I signed with Atlanta about five minutes after the draft.”

Shiver, who was a four-year starter in football at Brookwood, served as a long snapper on field goals and PATs at Auburn. The road to the Falcons was an unexpected one for the Thomasville native.

“Growing up, I’m sure every kid says, ‘I want to play pro football and I want to play pro baseball.’ I never even thought about it even when I graduated from Brookwood,” Shiver said. “When I decided to go to Auburn, coach (Shane) Boggs was like, ‘You’re probably the best long snapper I’ve seen. You should at least give it a chance.’

“Him, my dad and myself went out to Brookwood’s football field and filmed me snapping. Coach (Eddie) Gran called me. He’s the special teams coach at Auburn. He invited me to walk on. The first year, you’re just kind of glad to be on the team and be a part of everything that’s going on.

“After that, you kind of get that hunger, (thinking) I want to start, I want to play. After that, it just kind of fell into place.”

Shiver will report to the Falcons’ mini-camp on May 7 for four days of workouts.

“It’s been a lot of fun — all the support I’ve had from my family and everyone in the Thomasville area that’s Auburn fans that’s kept up with me. It’s all been a lot easier and a lot more fun to include them in all of this,” Shiver said.