Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of stories about former Bobcat Kalvin McRae and other Bobcats' quest to get drafted in the upcoming NFL Draft. After being poked and prodded for a week at the NFL combine, Kalvin McRae came back to Athens last week to go through a second round of drills with some old friends.
McRae, who was one of 350 players to participate in the NFL combine in late February, returned to Peden Stadium on Friday for Ohio's Pro Day with some of his former teammates. While McRae did get frustrated with all the different tests that the teams ran him through at the combine, he was glad that he got the opportunity to experience it.
It was a real good experience
McRae said. Just to go and meet some of the big-name guys of college football and go through that whole experience it was something that I enjoyed.
Besides all the tests, McRae also ran through a variety of drills and went through individual meetings with many of the NFL teams. But this was not your typical job interview.
I can't even remember all of them McRae said. The hardest interview for me to do was the interview with the (Dallas) Cowboys ... They drew up a play for me and told me what the responsibilities of everyone were and what my responsibility was
and I had to spit it back to them
and that was hard to do.
McRae officially participated in the 40-yard dash and the vertical jump. He ran a 4.66 40-yard dash, which was the 25th best time out of the 30 running backs that participated at the combine, and registered a 25-inch vertical jump, which was the worst among the running backs.
I wanted to run faster than what I ran
McRae said. Everything that I needed to run a good 40 (yard dash) was already there
I just didn't put it together mentally ... I think I kind of got away from my technique.
McRae had a lot that he wanted to prove in front of scouts from the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and New York Jets. The other former Bobcats participating in Ohio's Pro Day were safety Todd Koenig, linebacker Taj Henley, wide receiver Chido Nwokocha, running back Josh Abrams, long snapper Ryan Senser, defensive tackle Landon Cohen and kicker Michael Braunstein.
McRae improved his 40-yard dash time despite being sick. One official said that McRae ran in the low 4.6's. Other drills included the 60-yard dash, the 60-yard shuttle and the 5-10-5 pro shuttle. McRae did not participate in the broad jump, vertical jump or bench press.
For some of the other former Bobcats, this was their first and likely only time to make an impression on an NFL scout.
This is pretty much like a big job interview
except no words are being spoken
said Abrams, who worked out individually as both a running back and defensive back. All my words are in my legs and my arms and my back and my chest.
Abrams was clocked at a 4.35 in the 40-yard dash, which was the best such time of the day. He also drew some appreciation from the crowd on hand for his times in the 60-yard dash, the 60-yard shuttle and the 5-10-5 pro shuttle.
I just wanted to make sure that I came out here and ran a good time
Abrams said. (The scouts) just told me
'Good job and keep it up.'
Cohen impressed scouts with his strength. He did 32 repetitions of 225 pounds in the bench press, which was the highest of any person that participated Friday, and projects him into the top five among defensive tackles that participated at the combine.
But even that didn't make him happy.
I didn't even get a chance to warm up
