Dean Muhtadi’s Sunday night consisted of working on several projects and papers as he flew back to BWI from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

But don’t let the end of the former Terp defensive lineman’s weekend fool you.

Muhtadi, who is swamped with work here at the end of the semester as he works toward his MBA at the Smith School of Business, actually had one of the best weekends of his life.

The former D-III Christopher Newport transfer, along with former Terp tackle Dane Randolph, earned a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers at the conclusion of a three-day tryout.

“We both tried to be pretty professional about it, but I could barely hold it in,” Muhtadi said of the moment he and Randolph were privately told their fate by a Packers official. “It pretty much took all I had not to go nuts right then and there.”

For Muhtadi, who was not on scholarship before this season and didn’t crack the Terp starting lineup until midseason, it was the latest, greatest hurdle cleared in a career that has continued to exceed expectations.

He said he came into the tryout cautiously optimistic after running through the Packers’ positional needs in his head. The team, which drafted nose tackle B.J. Raji in the first round of April’s draft, ultimately signed four undrafted free agents from a participant pool of more than 20 players.

“I feel like I had an edge this weekend because I’ve been in this situation so many times,” said Muhtadi, who called it “a great weekend for Terp football.” “But I gotta say, it’s definitely more gratifying to go this route.”

Muhtadi, who was dealing with a hamstring injury during March’s Terp Pro Timing Day, said the team likes his ability to play multiple defensive line positions, but when he and Randolph were summoned from the dining room of the Packer training facility, they still thought it was “to sign some sort of release form.”

He’ll head back to Green Bay on May 17 after finals are over for what he called “rookie acclimation week” before “organized team activities,” a sort of NFL spring ball, start the next week.

Muhtadi’s still got his business career as a Plan B, but for now, he’s focusing on trying to stay in the pro game for as long as possible. That road takes him through Green Bay, a place known for its football at Lambeau Field, which the fun-loving lineman called “a shrine” that gives him chills to walk through, with his former teammate Randolph.

“It’s great,” Muhtadi said. “I’ve got my foot in the door right now. I prety much jump started my career with this weekend. We’ll see where it goes.”

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