The NFL combine! A place that every college player wants to go and perform in front of NFL scouts and personnel. Travel to Indianapolis, get interviewed by NFL teams, get tons of free gear, and most of all the opportunity to prove yourself in front of NFL personnel on national TV. Well like myself, not everybody gets this opportunity. After not hearing from the combine in early January players get to call in to check on their status. I of course continued to hope that they didn't have the right contact info or the invite got lost in the clutter. But the phone call confirmed that I was not invited which was a disappointing and it felt like a slap in the face when I heard it. I was not discouraged, but even more determined to prove myself as I was getting overlooked and underestimated. I am not new to this notion as the same happened to me coming out of high school. But every athlete has to deal with critics even from their own school. I use this as fuel and work to prove them wrong. Trying to figure out a way to get my numbers out there early, I was advised to do a regional combine. Regional combines are open to anyone who registers and not very many scouts would be in attendance, but I knew I could get reliably timed by NFL personnel on a good turf surface. I registered for the Houston Regional Combine on Sunday February 17th.
I drove down to Houston that Saturday and stayed with a friend awaiting my first big testing day. I woke up bright and early and headed to Methodist Training Center which is the Houston Texans indoor practice facility. Defense had to go at 7 in the morning so I ended up waking up around 5 with little sleep because of the nerves. After checking in we were showed to the field, warmed up, and put straight to work! I was well prepared with my training from Geared4Speed but this was now the real thing. We were broken into groups and rotated between the stations for testing. The defensive backs started at the vertical then went through to short shuttle, 40, broad jump, and finally height and weight. It didn't take long for the NFL personnel and players to notice how I was doing. The national director of regional combines and multiple other personnel and scouts took notice and began to talk to me and inquire about me. I was being put on the spot to see how I reacted under pressure and I would have to say I responded. At the end of testing we proceeded to do defensive back drills. These were various types but basically included back peddle, break, and catch the ball. The national director kept telling the QBs to drill it and bomb it when I was up. I never dropped a ball and only had one go out of my reach on one of the "bombs." I put up great numbers and impressed the crew there at the Houston Regional Combine. The official results were a 4.37 40, 37" vertical, 4.07 short shuttle, and a 10'6" broad jump. Hopefully I proved my speed and grabbed some attention. But either way I will continue to work to try and surprise doubters and prove myself even further. Next up is Texas Tech pro day on March 6th... yet another opportunity that God has blessed me with.
I drove down to Houston that Saturday and stayed with a friend awaiting my first big testing day. I woke up bright and early and headed to Methodist Training Center which is the Houston Texans indoor practice facility. Defense had to go at 7 in the morning so I ended up waking up around 5 with little sleep because of the nerves. After checking in we were showed to the field, warmed up, and put straight to work! I was well prepared with my training from Geared4Speed but this was now the real thing. We were broken into groups and rotated between the stations for testing. The defensive backs started at the vertical then went through to short shuttle, 40, broad jump, and finally height and weight. It didn't take long for the NFL personnel and players to notice how I was doing. The national director of regional combines and multiple other personnel and scouts took notice and began to talk to me and inquire about me. I was being put on the spot to see how I reacted under pressure and I would have to say I responded. At the end of testing we proceeded to do defensive back drills. These were various types but basically included back peddle, break, and catch the ball. The national director kept telling the QBs to drill it and bomb it when I was up. I never dropped a ball and only had one go out of my reach on one of the "bombs." I put up great numbers and impressed the crew there at the Houston Regional Combine. The official results were a 4.37 40, 37" vertical, 4.07 short shuttle, and a 10'6" broad jump. Hopefully I proved my speed and grabbed some attention. But either way I will continue to work to try and surprise doubters and prove myself even further. Next up is Texas Tech pro day on March 6th... yet another opportunity that God has blessed me with.
-Student of the Game
#WreckEm
No comments:
Post a Comment