Sports Reporting Story 8: App State Football Players Ready for Pro Day
Walking into a workout for the National Football League Pro Day, the drills aren't what you would expect a group of former college players to be doing to get better and try and make an NFL team. It's more like a track and field practice than a football workout.
Thirteen Mountaineers will participate in Pro Day on Monday logging measurements and times in drills like the 40-yard-dash, vertical jump, height and weight.
John Law, Dez Reed, Parker Collins, Barrett Burns, Mondo Williams, Bentlee Critcher, Tyson Fernandez, Jamie Collmar, Alex Gray, Toronto Thomas, Kennan Gilchrist, Marcus Cox and Nate Norwood are all eligible to participate in Pro Day.
They are trying to add their names to the current list of nine former App State players in the NFL.
App State linebacker and leader in tackles two seasons ago, John Law, said he talked to former Mountaineer Ronald Blair, now with the San Francisco 49ers, late last week to get some pointers.
"He told me to just have fun and not make it more than it is," he said. "He said the teams have tape so they know what I can do on the field, this is just for the measurements and numbers."
Law said once they won the Camellia Bowl in December for the second straight season, he started training and focusing on Pro Day taking in any advice from anyone he could.
"I went down to a training facility in Florida with some guys from other schools and just trying to take a little bit from everyone I meet," he said.
Law has been back in Boone for a week and a half training with some of the other App State players who are participating in Pro Day.
Dez Reed, who also played linebacker for the Mountaineers, was also working out and said it's a much more relaxed atmosphere training for the Pro Day.
“It’s not about wins and losses but being at your best for your reps,” he said.
As the players were stretching down, the topic of the NFL naturally came up. They started talking of free agents and contracts being signed. Kennan Gilchrist mentioned a four-year $10 million contract and massive exhales came from most of the guys. That money still seems so unreal.
The way the players talked amongst each other, it was easy to see that being in the NFL was attainable for these guys, but it was still unbelievable to them.
They may not be drafted or signed but when kids first get into football they just want to be good enough to play. To eventually be working out in front of NFL scouts is a dream come true.
“I am just grateful for the opportunity to work out in front of NFL people and have a chance to be seen,” cornerback Mondo Williams said. “It’s the players you look up to who are in that league and just to work out for it will be a great experience.”