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Ready to put on the pads
Posted: Wednesday April 12, 2000 12:36 PM
Former UCLA wide receiver Danny Farmer is expected to be chosen in the second or third round of the 2000 NFL Draft on April 15-16. Farmer caught 29 passes for 573 yards and three touchdowns in his senior year with the Bruins, and is UCLA's career receiving yardage leader with 3,020 yards on 159 career catches. This is the first in a series of draft diaries from Farmer. Looking back and dwelling on the past is something that I don't like to do, but given the circumstances, I'd like to tell you about my life and the events of the last several months on the road to the NFL Draft. I approached the offseason prior to my senior year with high hopes. Everyone knew we had lost our starting quarterback the year before, and given the chance, I knew I could help us have another great year. Entering preseason workouts, I was in the best shape of my life. However, just seven days before the opening game of the season, I suffered a high ankle sprain in a practice scrimmage, an injury that hampered me for the rest of the season. From that moment on, I knew that I had to play catch up with everyone else. My senior season felt like a disappointment, as we finished with a 4-7 record, a loss to our rival USC, and no bowl game. I am sad that my last memories of UCLA were bitter, not sweet. To go from a year with so much personal and team success to the kind of year we had was difficult to handle. However, I believe that the season may have been a blessing in disguise. Without a bowl invite, I was able to rest up and let all of my injuries heal through the month of December. I was fortunate, too, to get a head start on preparing for the upcoming NFL Draft. After accepting two postseason All-Star game invitations, I decided that the best thing to do was to play in only one of them. Canceling the East-West Shrine Game was a difficult decision to make, but it allowed me to rest my body for one more week. My experience at the Senior Bowl was second-to-none. I was finally able to participate at full speed, with my injuries long behind me. I had a pretty good week of practice too, which was what I needed to show the scouts that I was healthy again. Following the Senior Bowl, I began my training for the NFL Draft. By dropping out of classes in winter quarter, I was able to fully dedicate myself to football. With four or five speed workouts, three or four lifts, and two or three sessions of throwing a week, my schedule was very busy. I found myself overtraining in early February, with no classes to attend. The highlight of February, however, was the much talked about NFL Combine. Having previously decided that I wasn't going to run at the Combine, I already had a sense of relief. But once I arrived in Indianapolis, the madness began. After being escorted to my room for a quick change of clothes, the testing began. First, a knee strength test -- the Cybex test -- then a trip to the hospital, where three hours of testing and x-rays tested my patience. I didn't get back to the hotel until 11:00 p.m., and I hadn't had a single interview. And that was only the first night. The next two days were spent being examined by physicians from every NFL team and being interviewed by coaches. The experience was unlike anything I had ever been through before, but I can understand why they do it. If I were going to hire someone for a million dollars or so, I would do the same thing. With the Combine out of the way, my training was targeted for my personal workout at UCLA on March 20th. I saw my 40 times get faster, and was consistently running in the high 4.4's to low 4.5's, with the fastest time clocked at 4.46. I was excited for the workout and ready to run the 40 because I was eager to prove that I was faster than most people thought I was. However, things didn't go exactly as planned. An interview with the Saints ran long and as a result, I had less than 15 minutes to warm up for the 40. On top of that, the weather wasn't cooperating. It just so happened that my workout fell on the windiest day in Los Angeles this year, with Santa Ana winds blowing at 15-35 miles per hour. Although the crosswinds and headwinds weren't the most ideal conditions, I was able to run well, with times in the low 4.5's. In the throwing drills, the wind also caused me to drop a few passes, which is pretty uncharacteristic. I wouldn't say that I was disappointed with my workout, but I am hoping to run again in good weather. So now what? Well, I am anxiously waiting to run again. I have trained hard up to this point, and would like a second chance to prove what I can do. To me, it is amazing how much emphasis the NFL scouts put on the forty. It shouldn't be how fast you run in a pair of shoes, shorts and a t-shirt. What should matter is your game speed. The 40 should be run in full pads, on one surface, and with a computer-generated time for a more accurate determination of speed. But since the forty has to be run, I am willing to run for anyone, anytime. In all honesty, I just can't wait to put on the helmet and pads again. After all, playing football is what I love to do.
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