University of Missouri's 2009 NFL Pro Day

WOW, I got a chance to go to the Missouri Pro Day on Thursday, March 5th, and that is all I gotta' say....WOW! DT- Evander "Ziggy" Hood looked phenomenal, period, end of story. I overheard the Detroit Lions scout say something that I probably shouldn't have while I was by him, leaning against a fence they had up. He was speaking to someone in a hushed tone, and no one else was within 10-15 feet of the five of us. Needless to say it was interesting. I would share it, but it is not my place to do so. Also, the Falcon's, Bears, and Bills scouts(among others) were talking to Hood. With the Falcon's scout putting in the most time, one on one, from what I saw. But, it was hard to watch everything that was going on and am sure that I missed everyone that had talked to him. Hood had a vertical jump that was a personal best for him. It was only 1 inch below S-William Moore, who hit 36.5 inches, according to what they yelled out after he did it. Which is kinda funny, because NFL.com is reporting that Hood only jumped 34.5". Not sure if they get their info second hand, but I was there and know what I saw and heard. Moore ran in the high 4.4's-low 4.5's. He looked pretty impressive as well. But, the two surprises of the day, in my eyes (Besides Hood), were QB-Chase Patten (C. Daniels back-up) and WR-Tommy Saunders. Patten threw a few passes off the mark, but all that I saw had zip and were thrown with a tight spiral. He has the size to be an NFL QB, around 6'5" 220lbs. Someone might take a chance on him, especially now that Matt Cassel (Another college back-up QB) has done so well. Saunders, who did not get invited to the Indy Combine, bench pressed 225lbs. 31TIMES! More than any other LB @ the combine, not to mention the WR's. This dude is stacked. He is a little on the short side for a WR, but made a diving catch that was extremely impressive. Both of these guys may have gotten a chance to play in the NFL with their workouts. A coach from the Panthers ran the defensive drills after the "main 7", as I call them. I think it was Defensive Coordinator Ron Meeks. I am not sure who ran the offensive drills, but it was a guy in glasses.

Jeremy Maclin, Chase Daniel, and Chase Coffman did not work out(all were in street clothes). Maclin because of the knee tweak @ Combine, Coffman is still recovering from foot surgery, and not exactly sure why Daniel did not work out. Daniel and Maclin both were at the Indy Combine and did the same drills there as were done here. Both also are expecting to participate at Mizzou's next pro day on March 19th....I will be there as well. Coffman prob. won't be healed enough to do anything in 2 weeks, so it will be interesting to see how far, if at all, he drops in the draft.

Gary Pinkle has to be one of the nicest coaches that I have met. I am not saying I have met a lot. I would say 4 or 5. While I was talking to Gary Pinkle, I got a chance to tell him a little about what I do, which of coarse was great. Although I never really get crazy excited around famous people, as they are just people, I about pooped my pants (Not really) when Pinkle took time out of the busy Pro Day to talk to ME!. Got a chance to talk to a few agents (Saunders' and Hood's agents), as well as a few scouts (Detroit, Bears, and Vikings -GO NFC North). I was wearing a Bears shirt, which actually brought the Bears scout over to me. He said, "Nice shirt!" (wouldn't expect anything less) and then we talked for a few mins. I had a chance to discuss, with the Detroit scout, the 2 pick-ups that they got these past couple of weeks, CB- Phillip Buchanon and CB/S-Anthony Henry. Buchanon went to Riverdale H.S. and Henry went to Estero H.S. I told him how I was from that area, and played (aka sat the bench) against Henry, who was a QB at the time. Also mentioned all the other talent, that is in the NFL, that came from that area at that time, (IE. DE-Jevon Kearse - North H.S., RB-Earnest Graham - Mariner H.S., and OG-Anthony Herrera - Barron Collier H.S., he is w/ the 'Vikes). Former WR for the Tigers, Justin Gage, attended the Pro Day too. He now plays for the Tennesse Titans.

Needless to say, I didn't get any autographs from anyone. I thought it would be inappropriate at the time, although I am sure that they would have done so. I will try to do so the 19th, as they MIGHT recognize me and it would be a little more appropriate at that time. When I went to take a picture with the digital camera that we had brought to the event, it went dead as soon as I hit the button. We forgot to check the batteries, nor did we bring extras. I did bring a disposable one as back-up, and glad that I did so. I guess I learned my lesson on that one...lol. Note to self: Anytime an opportunity arises like this again, BRING EXTRA BATTERIES! I took some pics w/ Pinkel, Jimmy Jackson-current Mizzou RB, and a few others.So that was cool. The pictures below are from the March 19th Pro Day. All in all, it was a great day. I can not wait until Thurday, March 19th, when the next Pro Day at Mizzou will take place. It should be just as exciting, if you like that kind of stuff, as I do. I really enjoy the whole process of football. The Draft, Free Agency, Camps, Scouting, Stats, ETC. And really enjoy sharing that passion with my friends and people that I meet. People call me "The Sports Guy", because of my extensive knowledge of the workings and stats of the three bigger sports. That would include football, baseball, and basketball. Not only Pro, but college as well. Although not so much college baseball.

Update: I went to the second Pro Day, on March 19th. I wasn't able to get there until after they did the "main 7". But I did talk to Jeremy Maclin and Ziggy Hood, as well as many others. Jeremy said he ran a 4.38 40 yard dash. Ziggy topped his 34 reps on the Bench Press with 35. Everyone looked pretty solid in their individual workouts. Both Chases threw the ball pretty well. Although Chase Patton was off on a few of the deeper balls. Maclin caught the ball extremely well. He also took a reverse on the last play and threw it down the sideline, to a streaking Chase Daniel. Who caught it and ran down the sideline. I later overheard him say, "Hey I scored!". From what I heard, TE- Chase Coffman did not workout. He did catch some passes for the scouts though. When I talked to him, he said that his injury is around 80% healed. The Dr.'s advised him not to run. Not sure who all was there, coach wise. But I did meet Henry Ellard, who used to be a WR for the Rams, and now is the WR coach for the Jets. There were a lot more scouts at this Pro Day, than were here for the one on March 5th. I did not get a chance to talk to many scouts, other than the Bears one. He had recognized me from the other Pro Day. I saw him talking to William Moore for a little while and he also ran the DB workouts. While talking to Tommy Saunders agent, he said that the Detroit Lions and the Arizona Cardinals were really interested in signing him if he did not get drafted. He did say that there was a personal change in the Cardinals organization, but it should not change the way they feel about Tommy. I also asked him how the heck Tommy was so strong. He said that Tommy has a work-out regimen that includes doing 100,000 push-ups in a calender year. What an athletic freak! You could hear a little sigh from the girls that were in attendance, when he took his shirt off. There were also many more players from other smaller colleges through out Missouri. Including William Jewel, CMSU, among others. I was not familiar with anyone. But the Cleveland Browns scout did put in some time with a few and I saw him give the players his card. I would assume that it was for the purpose of getting try-outs. I did get a chance to meet most of the Mizzou players and get autographs and pictures with them. Which, of course, was cool. Everyone was really nice and accommodating. I can not wait until next year. Please leave comments, thank you.