Watching and waiting
Posted: Monday March 01, 1999 02:00 PM
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have a question for Anthony Poindexter. He'll answer a question or two in
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Lots of top prospects skip the 40-yard dash and other drills at the NFL
combine because they're afraid a bad showing will hurt their chances in the
NFL Draft. I didn't get to work out in Indianapolis last weekend, but I
wish I could have.
I had a great time interviewing with teams and meeting other defensive
backs in this year's draft. While they ran and leaped and tackled, I had to
watch from the sidelines, as I did for the last month of football season
last year.
In the seventh game of my senior year, in a 23-13 win over N.C. State, I
tore three ligaments in my left knee -- the ACL, PCL and LCL. You don't
hear all three of those in the same sentence too often.
I've been working toward getting back on the field ever since, and I've
spent the last month in San Francisco, rehabbing with the same trainer who
supervised Jerry Rice's
comeback last year. I've been working hard -- I want to show everyone how
far along I've come.
Training in California has been a good change of venue for me. It's nice
and laid-back here -- this is my first time to the state. I'm working out
five days a week for a total of eight four-hour sessions. I have two
sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and one on Tuesday and Thursday.
It's most definitely a time-consuming thing.
On Thursday, I got to do some light jogging for the first time. In the
month that I've been here, I've seen real improvements in my knee and my
quad. The whole time since the injury, though, I've known I could make it
back. Look at the NFL and there are a lot of player that went down like I
did and they're leading full careers right now.
You can't really imagine how hard the work is in rehab -- that's been the
toughest part. The injury really didn't hurt that bad when it happens, and
it was nothing compared to what the therapy can feel like.
I do a little treadmill, a little stairs, some time on the bike. There's a
lot of work re-training my leg on flexing and extending with different
machines.
I had heard a lot about the combine -- my roommate last year, Germane
Crowell, was a second-round pick of the Detroit Lions. As much as
you hear about the draft, you really don't know what to expect until you're
there.
Even though I couldn't work out, for most of the weekend I was grouped with
the rest of the defensive backs. It's almost like a meat market -- my
number was "DB38." It was tough watching the other guys in workouts,
wondering if they're getting an edge on me with what they were showing
teams. I had to sit there and just bank on my game film -- I think that's
strong enough to let them know what I can do.
The medical tests were naturally a big part of my weekend. The team doctors
all want to see how my knee is coming along, which is understandable. It
was a lot of pushing and prodding and answering questions, but I think it
went well.
It was interesting getting to sit down with all these coaches you've
watched on television, thinking, "I might get a job from this man." My
flight back went through St. Louis, and I wound up sitting with the Chiefs'
new coach, Gunther Cunningham. It was a weird coincidence -- we had just
talked the day before, and we got to talk more on the plane.
Once I got back to California, I went right back to rehab -- I still have a
lot of work to do. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do any kind of workouts
for teams before the draft, but my focus is on being ready for next season.
I don't want to do anything to risk another injury -- my goal is to be able
to be there ready to go when camps open in preseason.
Virginia defensive back Anthony Poindexter is projected as a first-round
pick in April's NFL Draft. Check back for his weekly diary entries every
Saturday at CNNSI.com.
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