On the past two unofficial depth charts the Giants released, the center position has said Jon Halapio was on the first team. But, for Halapio, he's just happy to be on the roster in the first place.

To know why, you have to go back a few years after he was drafted in the sixth round by the Patriots in 2014. Halapio, who came out of the University of Florida, was seeing an NFL dream come true. That is until he was cut in September.

With no other teams calling, Halapio had to settle with a job in the Fall Experimental Football League, which was a league hoping to act as the minor leagues for the NFL. As you could imagine, it definitely was a step down.

"You had to buy your own food," Halapio told Bleacher Report's David Gardner. "They didn't even provide snacks. My first year, maybe they had some snacks like every third day. Then there'd be the breakfast at the hotel. That was the only thing that was free, and that was from the hotel-not from them."

Halapio would get a call from the Broncos in December to save him from the FEFL, but he would only last until May. The Cardinals, then, came calling in June, but he was cut once again before the start of the season.

It wasn't the start to his NFL career that he had hoped for, and Halapio found himself back home in St. Petersburg needing to find a more stable job considering he had a wife and two kids to support.

After job searching, Halapio was set to work at a Home Depot, but Grant Bond, a Florida alumni, called about a job with his user car dealership and car rental company. Halapio was hired even though he had no experience in the business.

But Bond knew he could be a salesman because of one of Halapio's best qualities.

"He's a likeable guy," Bone said. "That's all you need in sales. And people react differently to him because he's a bigger man. He says, 'Sign here' and they say, 'OK,' and don't ask too many questions. He was a nice, big guy, and that was advantageous."

Bond called Halapio a natural, but he recalls a car sale was rare during his time at the dealership.

"I think I sold three cars -- total," Halapio joked. "And it wasn't by myself. I reeled them in. Then I'd take them to my boss, who would actually close the deal."

While working for Bond, Halapio was still working out, hoping that a team would still call from the NFL. He began working with former Buccaneers fullback Mike Alstott at Northside Christian High School in the summer of 2016. It was at Alstott's request that Halapio add snapping to his daily routine, and learn the center position to make himself a little more marketable to teams.

Well, after switching agents, Halapio finally got a call from his former Patriots team to start training camp that year. But, just as his rookie year, the Patriots cut him in their final cuts before the start of the season.

Halapio was teased once again and was set to start his job with Bond again, until the Giants wanted to see him in person. After a good workout, the Giants signed him and he spent the entire 2016 season on the practice squad.

And after he stayed on the practice squad in 2017, Halapio finally got his big break when he was named to the active roster in near the end of the season. He would start the final six games, and make a solid impression on the front office in East Rutherford.

He signed a one-year, $550,000 contract for this season, and looks to be the favorite to start at center in Week 1. Offensive line coach Hal Hunter gave Halapio tons of credit for his transition from guard to center.

"I've seen a lot of good offensive linemen -- you can put a ball in their hand, and they become...debilitated," Hunter said. "But he kind of took to it a little naturally, and so we continued to work with him there. He's really excelled at that position. Some guys have a knack for it. To play center, you have to be smart. If you're going to play center, you've got to be tough because you've got some 400-pound guy every single snap right there in your face, and it ain't easy."

Well, Halapio doesn't mind that 400-pound guy because his road to get to this point in the NFL hasn't been the easiest either. He knows there's more work to be done before he is the official starting center with Brett Jones still vying for the position. But he does like snapping to Eli Manning.

"It feels different this time," he said. "I've never been on the first team. It's different in that aspect, but my mindset isn't different. I'm still on edge. I could never feel safe because I've been cut so many times. It's built into me. I know what it's like to sell cars instead of play football. I know anything can happen. But it gives me an advantage -- I'm not complacement."

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