CHAPTER 59

The next morning we entered the large domed facility to begin a week of events that in essence could be life changing for some people. A bad showing here could derail any chance of being a high selection in the upcoming draft. One thing that was immediately evident was just how detailed, but coordinated this event was. As soon as I signed in I was ushered to a large room where I was given the first of several written tests that I would take over the next several days. The test was a type of word association test that really made you stop and think about the answer. It was extremely clever and worded so that it was very easy to make a mistake. I took my time and finished just a few minutes ahead of the allotted time given.

After a short break for lunch, I was interviewed by a panel which consisted of trainers, doctors and sports medicine authorities. They went into detail about any previous injuries I had sustained while playing football. Fortunately, other than the one severe high ankle sprain I had incurred in high school, I had been injury free.

That afternoon, I was given another written test and I had a drug screen performed, both urine and hair samples taken. By the time I returned to my hotel room that night, I was mentally drained. I ate an early supper and went straight to bed.

The next morning I was scheduled for the strength segment of my testing. It was a standard flat bench press exercise in which you pressed 225 pounds as many times as you could. I looked at the chart and saw I was scheduled to go at number fifteen, at least I would have a good idea of what was normal by the time my turn came up. As player after player went through the drill it was immediately apparent some of these players did not put in the same amount of time in the gym as the others. Several players achieved repetitions into the thirties, while others barely made twenty. You were allowed a warm-up just before your turn, then you went straight to the bench. There were maybe fifty to sixty spectators in the room watching and taking notes. I was able to get 33 repetitions before maxing out, the highest number thus far in my position group. By the end of the session , I finished in third place, which I was very pleased with considering being an underclassman.

Later that afternoon, we had the broad jump, vertical jump and 3 cone drill segments of our testing. I finished in the top five in all three drills which I was extremely pleased with. That night I met with the agent representative who agreed thus far everything was going well.

The next day the first event up was the forty yard dash, one thing I knew from experience, speed is a key measurable in football. I ran a 4.68 yard dash, which truthfully I was upset with, I had been faster. On my second attempt, I ran a 4.66, on my last attempt I was able to pull out a 4.61. I was not happy with my times but there wasn't much I could do about it.

That afternoon we did our twenty and sixty yard shuttle drills then headed back to the hotel. The only thing left was our position drills, then the interviews that the teams were allowed to conduct one on one.

When I arrived at the facility the following morning, I was quickly ushered into position drills by the coaches. One thing was evident, both the terminology and the concentration at this level was above and beyond anything that I had been through before. You were basically told once, you either got it or they by-passed you. I felt I did fairly well considering everything that was thrown at me, I received some praise from the coaches running the drills. We broke for lunch, then I returned for the interview segment with the prospective teams. I scanned the list and saw I had close to two hours before my interviews were to be held. I entered the field area to watch the wide receivers and quarterbacks workout, just to kill some time. While I was standing there a few of the players were tossing the ball around on the sidelines, basically killing time, as I was. I joined in and before long, we were running short routes and trying to make acrobatic catches.

Because my father had been an All American High School quarterback, I had learned the proper way to catch a football early on in life. You caught the ball with your hands extended, never letting the ball get to your body if possible. You looked the ball into your hands, never taking your eyes off of it. I guess maybe an hour and a half had passed before I headed back into the meeting room area for my interview.

I took a seat in a small room with a large table and several chairs. One by one, several teams sent a representative in and asked a variety of questions, pretty much covering all aspects of what I wanted to achieve at the next level. Two of the four teams that interviewed me were the teams my agent thought would be interested in drafting me. The other two I really figured to be a long shot at best. With the team interviews out of the way, I was done and figured to head home the following morning.

I arrived back home the following Friday evening, I was completely exhausted both mentally and physically. I was looking forward to relaxing for a few days with absolutely nothing to do. I went to bed early Friday night, I can't remember being that tired in a very long time.

I woke up the following morning about ten o'clock, took a shower, got dressed and headed into town. I stopped and had breakfast at the diner, passed by the gym and was headed home when my phone rang. I answered it quickly, it was Courtney.

"Hey Brian, how are you ?", the familiar voice asked.

"I'm doing fine Court, how are you ?", I answered.

"I'm fine, thanks. How was the combine , do you think you did ok ?", she asked.

"I did ok. I could have done better in a few things, but I did well in others, I guess it all averages out.", I replied.

"Good, my Dad asked me to call, he was wondering.", she said.

"Tell him thanks, I appreciate the concern.", I responded.

"I will tell him, see you later.", she said.

I tossed the phone on the front seat just as I was pulling into the driveway. I changed clothes and headed to the gym for a workout. I wanted to make sure I stayed in top condition with the draft upcoming. I had a two hour plus workout, took a shower at the gym and headed home. There was roughly six weeks before the draft, it was going to be a time of nervousness and anxiety. My entire future hung in the balance and for the first time, I had absolutely no control over it.

Ashley had just pulled into the drive seconds before me, she was beginning to unload the groceries from her SUV. I finished bringing in the groceries for her, then helped her put everything away. It was almost two o'clock in the afternoon before I settled down for some lunch. As I was eating the phone rang again, it was my agent.

"Brian, I just received a very strange phone call from a team out here on the west coast. In a nutshell, they are asking me if you would consider possibly playing another position other than defensive end. With that said, I informed them we had been contacted about you being moved to an outside linebacker slot already. They told me that's not what they have in mind.", he said.

"So what do they want me to play ?", I replied.

"That's just it, they never went into it. They are just throwing it out there to see if you're willing to consider it.", he answered.

"Look, I will consider anything to play. Although all I ask is if I am drafted at a position other than end, they at least give me a shot at making the team at my normal position before cutting me.", I said.

"Enough said, I will let them know.", he told me, hanging up the phone.

I was really taken back, I mean because of my height, I was extremely limited to where I could play. I was not big enough and had no experience as an offensive lineman. Really either defensive end or linebacker was really all I was suited for. A few hours later my agent called me back, he seemed rather excited.

"Brian, look I have arranged for you to fly out and work out for them privately. They want you there first thing Monday morning. I have arranged your flights and transportation. You leave tomorrow morning, you come back Monday night. I will meet you there.", he told me.

"So what is this about ?", I asked.

"I know as much as you do, but it's worth the shot. See you there.", he answered.

I hung up the phone and relayed to Ashley what I had been told. It seemed rather strange to her as well, but as my agent said, it seemed worth the effort. I packed that night, got up early, took a cab to the airport and flew out to the west coast. I spent Sunday afternoon in the hotel that my agent had arranged. I was picked up at seven o'clock Monday morning by a transportation service and was taken to the local team's stadium. I was met by team officials and a couple of coaches, given a locker room to change, then led out onto the field.

I immediately recognized the tall red shirted player throwing the ball to the other two players casually. He was a highly decorated Quarterback who had led this team to several championships in the past decade. I was introduced to everyone on the field, one of the coaches finally started to unravel the mystery.

"Brian, I'm Coach Reed, the Offensive Coordinator here, all of this mess is my doing. I was at the combine and watched you workout in several drills. I must admit that for your size, you're incredibly strong, but more importantly you're very quick. But what impressed me more than anything was what you did with the other players while you waited on the sidelines. You have incredible hands, I watched you catch the ball like a wide receiver.", he said.

"Now granted you don't have the speed needed to play a wide out or even slot receiver in this league. But we do feel with your height, speed and physical stature, you could possibly make a very good tight end.", he finished.

"A tight end ? That's something I have never thought about sir.", I answered.

"Well, let's find out.", he responded.