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Craziness at the Combine
Updated: Saturday February 24, 2001 12:23 PM
Former Mississippi running back Deuce McAllister is expected to be a top-10 pick in the 2001 NFL Draft on April 21. McAllister gained 3,676 total yards and scored 39 touchdowns in his four seasons with the Rebels. This is the second in a series of Draft Diaries from McAllister. Check back weekly for another NFL Draft Diary from him at CNNSI.com. I'm so tired. It's been a grind for the two days here in Indianapolis so far. When I got off the plane on Thursday morning, they picked us up and brought us to the hotel, where we changed to go to the hospital to get X-rays and all the tests done. I thought we would be coming right back, but when we got done at the hospital, we went and did a Cybex test for your hamstring and your quads. So I got into Indy at 10 a.m. Thursday and I didn't get back to my room until 11:30 p.m. And then it started at 6:30 this morning, so you can kind of figure that I'm dead tired. I woke up at 6:30 this morning and had a 16-hour day today. After I got up, I had to go down and take the urine test and turn in some paperwork about my background for NFL Security. They ask you basic questions about if you've ever been arrested or if there are any pending criminal cases against you. After that I had to go take the urine test. Then I got to go to breakfast at the hotel. I had some pancakes, biscuits, bacon, a banana and some cereal. After breakfast I got to go to sleep for 30 minutes. That was the best part of the day. I had to be up again at 8:45 to meet my group downstairs at 9 to go over to get our physicals. We divided into groups last night and the groups met and we walked over to the RCA Dome together to get ready for our physicals. It's only probably a five-minute walk from the hotel over to the Dome. I had a pretty good group. My roommate is Travis Henry from Tennessee, and the rest of my group was LaDainian Tomlinson of TCU, LaMont Jordan of Maryland, Moran Norris of Kansas, Hodges Mitchell of Texas, Travis Minor of Florida State, Marcell Shipp of UMass, Reggie White of Oklahoma State, Dustin McClintock of Alabama, George Layne of TCU and Rudi Johnson of Auburn. All of them were pretty good guys.
The first thing we did when we got to the RCA Dome was we weighed in. You strip all the way down to nothing but your shorts and they get your height, weight and measure your arm length and hand span. And then we went to the 225-pound bench press rep max. I didn't bench, so if you're not going to bench then you have to go out in front of everyone that's there and announce why you aren't going to bench. I told them that I'm continuing to rehab my shoulder and that I will bench at my individual workout at Ole Miss on March 21. Then we went and took the Wonderlic test once the bench-pressing was over with. You only have like 12 minutes to take it. It wasn't bad, but I'd taken it before after my junior year. I think I scored a 21 the last time I took it. It was pretty much just basic questions comparing things, knowing the opposite of certain words, things of that nature. From the Wonderlic test we took a short lunch break for 15 or 20 minutes and just grabbed a ham sandwich, some chips and a drink. From there we proceeded on to the physicals where there were eight stations divided into maybe four or five teams per room. Each team had their team doctor in there and they look you over, they look your X-rays over and ask you about your past injuries. They take your blood pressure as well as look at your EKGs and any MRIs. I'm thrilled that I passed all the medical stuff with flying colors. I answered the question of being durable or being injury-prone. After you finish the stations, all the guys had to go and do a 10-minute taped interview with a coach. Some of us had to go do requests with the media for about 20 minutes or 30 minutes, but after that you were finally done and free to come back to the hotel to meet with more coaches. We took a break at 6 p.m. to go to dinner, but at 7 o'clock the meetings with teams started back up. Today I met with the 49ers, the Chiefs, the Redskins, the Seahawks, the Raiders, the Giants, the Chargers, the Bucs, the Lions, the Jets, the Eagles, the Rams -- as you can see, I've been busy -- the Ravens, the Saints. Those are just the ones that I didn't get a chance to talk to yesterday. If I haven't met with all of the teams in the past 24 hours, then I only missed by maybe one or two teams. Some teams had their head coach there, some teams only had their offensive coordinator and some teams had their general manager, head coach, offensive coordinator and position coach there. They do a neat thing with the interviews -- each team you talk to gives you a souvenir when you come in and talk to them. I think I did very well in my interviews. The only thing I can do is just be myself and talk about who I am and what I have to offer. I think they were impressed by what I had to offer them, in terms of my versatility and my ability to create mismatches. I was impressed by all teams that I talked to. Whether they had a running back or not, I think I talked to all of the teams. Because you never know what may happen. I'll take Denver for example. They have three guys that have rushed for 1,000 yards, but I still took the time out to talk to them, and they took the time out to talk to me. Because you never know, maybe four years down the line you are looking at free agency and here's a team that you felt comfortable with coming out as a rookie so you'll give them a shot or at least a look. So I took the time out to talk to all teams and not try to draw any given perception on what teams I would like. I met with Denver's running backs coach Bobby Turner, and you have to be impressed with him because of how he's developed his guys. I didn't feel like I was wasting my time by talking to all of the teams, because you never can tell in this day and age -- a team may move up if they like you enough, even if they have a running back. You never know a team's situation and you never know what's going to happen in free agency or with trades, so the least you can do is take the time out of your schedule. Because it's only a three-day deal and this is the only opportunity you have to really sell yourself. [Saturday] we still have to get up at 7:30, but we don't have to be over at the RCA Dome until 10 a.m. I'm leaving [Saturday] evening, so I have to have my bags packed before I go over to the Dome. The only drills that I'll participate in are the running back drills and some of the catching drills. Everything else I'll do back in Oxford on March 21 in my private workout. I think my flight leaves around 4 p.m. I'll just take some time for myself Sunday night when I get back to Oxford, and then start back working out on Monday. I plan to work out in Oxford next week before leaving on Sunday, March 4, to train in Phoenix for two weeks. Draft MailbagWith the possibility of being drafted by Cleveland, does the opportunity to be compared to the great Jim Brown appeal to you? -- John Kennedy, Nashville, Tenn. Well, you know, until lately I didn't know that Jim Brown even played at Cleveland. I was a fan of his but never really knew what team he played for. Cleveland has a great franchise and they've done some good things in the past. And hopefully with a couple more moves and with me in the equation we could resurrect the past and bring back some of those great times. If you can be mentioned with his name, then you've done a great job. You will probably get a nice contract. Are you ready for people to come out of the woodwork to hassle you over money? Stay the same person you have always been and stay in touch. -- Marty Cooper, Fulton, Miss. I've heard the stories and you can kind of see it happening, but probably the best thing that I can do is just try to stay the same and just act like you've been there before. I need to try to secure [my] future, not only for myself but for my family as well, to try to take care of the people that took care of me. You know it happens, and the best thing you can do is try to keep your circle as small as possible and just stay honest about who you are. Cleveland has a history of hard-nosed, lunch-pail players. Are you the kind of player who wants to work hard for not only the team, but the fans and city of Cleveland should you be drafted by the Browns? -- Brian L. McCamic, Wintersville, Ohio That's how I look at it. I'm going to work each day, and each day hopefully I'll get something accomplished and become not only a better player but a better person as well. My job is to help the organization get to a point where we're the best, year in and year out. Yeah, you have to be able to deal with all the stress and the pressure, not only from the fans, but from your teammates. You should expect it, they should expect it and we should demand it as players as far as nothing but the best. A number of draftniks think you might end up in Cleveland. With their new offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians, you'd likely be asked to split out wide occasionally, ala Marshall Faulk with the Rams. Have you had much experience doing that at Ole Miss, and is it appealing to you? -- Steve Wolf, Cincinnati, Ohio That's one of the versatility factors that I offer as a back. I have been able to do it at Ole Miss on a consistent basis and I think that's one of the things that's going to separate me from some of the other guys. I think it was smart not to play in the Senior Bowl, and not risk a needless injury. Coaches know who you are, and they know you are one of the best. But why didn't you give the people at the Senior Bowl an advanced warning that you would not play? -- Jay, Auburn, Ala. I actually did. It wasn't like I just pulled out without saying anything, I gave them notice. I was sad that I couldn't honor my commitment by playing in the Senior Bowl, but I talked to the people the Friday before we were supposed to report and let them know that I wouldn't be playing. I enjoyed watching you play at Ole Miss the last couple of years, but my main question is, how would you feel playing for the Chicago Bears and following in the legacy of Gayle Sayers and Walter Payton? -- Sean Largent, Somerset, Ohio Well the connection that I have there is that Walter Payton is a Mississippi guy. Chicago has a great history of loving their sports teams, and I think the desire and the hunger is there for the Bears to be back on the rise and to be a deep playoff contender year in and year out. So it would be a great honor to be able to play behind those legends. What I wanted to know was where you personally wanted to end up? I know most people try to say that it would be a blessing to get drafted anywhere, but you also have to have at least one to two places that, given the chance, you would rather play at I'm sure. -- Randy Black, Clinton, Miss. Well, it really doesn't matter to me. Probably my biggest thing is that they have an established quarterback, because then the pressure is not only on me. It really doesn't matter where I end up. I would love to go in there and just be that missing piece that a team needs to get it over the hump. When you signed with Ole Miss, I remember seeing you listed as running a 4.6 40. Was that time an error, or have you gotten that much faster while at Ole Miss? -- Rob Caldwell, Cleveland, Tenn. No, that wasn't my time going in to Ole Miss. It was probably in the high 4.4s coming out of high school. But I have got faster since I've been here. It's just been a blessing to have some of the type of people that I had around me to continue to push me and to want to work with me. And hopefully my body will continue to mature and I'll keep getting better.
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