ELLENSBURG, Wash. (AP) -They tested vertical leap with wide-eyed students on stationary bikes a few feet away.
They used one side of a jogging track in the student recreation center to time 40-yard sprints, tested for strength among students lifting weights between classes and commandeered a basketball court for the shuttle run.
Even when “Pro Day” comes to a Division II school, it still carries a small feel.
“It wasn’t Indianapolis,” deadpanned Mike Reilly, referring to last month’s NFL combine.
Reilly, a strong-armed quarterback, and tight end Jared Bronson were the reason Central Washington was holding a pro day event Monday. The duo are likely to become the first players drafted from the Division II school, about two hours drive east of Seattle, since the NFL draft went to 12 rounds back in 1991.
rform isn’t all that extraordinary. It actually continues a recent trend of the NFL taking a look at players from the lower divisions of college football.
When now-Dallas Cowboys quarterback Jon Kitna finished his record-setting career here in 1995, the only tryout he received was thanks to a teammate being related to then-Seattle Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson.
These days, NFL teams are mining the talent at schools which don’t have BCS attached to their conference affiliation. Two years ago, Kevin Boss was a no-name prospect from Western Oregon. By the end of his first year with the New York Giants, Boss had a Super Bowl ring. Danieal Manning left Abilene Christian after his junior season and landed in the secondary of the Chicago Bears.
In all, 24 players from Division II colleges or lower have been taken in the NFL draft since 2005.
“I would definitely say you’re going to see more guys spending more time at small schools, more than they have,” said Seattle Seahawks scouting assistant Aaron Hineline. “More guys are going in there and visiting the guys.”
The reasons there are good players to be found in the lower divisions varies.
al Washington when their careers at the big schools started on the bench and prospects for moving onto the field were slim.
They found a haven at the Division II level, where each started from the time they stepped on campus. Both aspired to play professionally when they first arrived at Central Washington, yet believed the opportunities to impress scouts would have to come at a larger, more prestigious school during one of their pro day events.
Yet, in a year when Washington and Washington State might have two players total taken in the draft, it was Bronson and Reilly’s school where other players and scouts gathered.
“We were hoping to be on the radar enough to have one here at some point. When I first got here I assumed I was going to have to go to another school to do a pro day,” Reilly said. “Luckily my senior year was the same as Jared and having two guys that are getting good looks definitely helps.”
Both Reilly and Bronson participated in the NFL combine but both wanted the opportunity to show improvement. For Reilly, it was a 40 time that was clocked at 4.92 seconds in Indianapolis, but hand times of 4.72 and 4.73 on Monday. For Bronson, he was recovering from shoulder surgery and bypassed doing the bench press at the combine.
pounds 21 times.
But it wasn’t all about Reilly and Bronson – each likely to be second-day picks next month. Pat McCann caught 58 passes and scored 11 touchdowns last year for Western Washington, then saw his football program get cut as part of budget issues. McCann showed up Monday at his former rival school hoping to get word out about his skills beyond the few lower-level arena league offers he’s received.
“I feel like I’m getting better at football and I wanted to see if I can get my name out there,” McCann said. “I’m just trying to give it my best shot and see what happens.”
Added Bronson: “(Small school) guys in the past have done so well and the NFL puts so much money and effort into scouting, they don’t want to let anyone slip through.”
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