Sports
Travis Carrie Highlights Ohio’s Pro Day
By: Nick Komjati
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The Ohio football program hosted its annual Pro Day at the new Walter Fieldhouse on Thursday, welcoming scouts from 17 different NFL organizations to evaluate members of the Bobcats’ 2013 graduating class before the NFL Draft on May 8-10.
Former Bobcat Travis Carrie drew the majority of the attention on Thursday. Carrie received an invitation to the NFL Combine, but decided not to participate in any skill drills due to a suspected injury.
“Being a competitor, every time you have to sit down and visualize someone else doing something you love doing, you get anxious,” Carrie said. “At the Combine, it was hard for me to be resistant to what I really wanted to do.”
While the scouts did not release official numbers from the day’s drills, Carrie was confident in his performance.
“I think I did pretty good today,” Carrie said. “You always have that feeling where you wish you would have done a little better, but I really think that some of my performances put me in the top of my bracket as far as my defensive back class.”
Former Ohio running back Chad Brinker, who entered the NFL in 2003 as an undrafted free agent, returned to campus as a scout for the Green Bay Packers organization and noted that Carrie’s workout drew many of the scouts to Athens.
“A lot of scouts came down here to see Travis work out,” Brinker said. “We needed to see him run the 40 and do position drills and he did a nice job.”
According to nfl.com writer Gil Brandt, Carrie ran 4.51 and 4.45 40 times in his two runs. He currently projects the Ohio corner as a fourth-round pick.
Running back Beau Blankenship participated in on-field drills after taking part in the University of Oklahoma’s Pro Day on Wednesday. Blankenship put up impressive numbers on Wednesday, but wanted to take advantage of the chance to gain even more exposure at his alma mater on Thursday.
“I was a little sore,” Blankenship said. “It took me a while to warm up, but it was good to get out here and run around a little bit and show these scouts what I could do.”
Wide receiver Donte Foster also posted a notable performance, timing 4.47 seconds in the 40-yard dash and recording a 42-inch vertical according to Zac Brouillette, Ohio’s strength and conditioning coach, on Twitter
Other notable names that participated included quarterback Tyler Tettleton, offensive tackle John Prior, and running back Ryan Boykin. Aside from members of the 2013 class, past Bobcats including Skyler Allen and Jordan Thompson returned to campus to boost their free agent visibility.
Before getting their chance to perform in front of NFL scouts, most players spent their entire offseason training and preparing for the Pro Day test, a practice that Brinker said has gotten increasingly intense since his time preparing for Pro Day.
“No one showed up for my Pro Day because it was the same day as Ohio State’s,” Brinker said. “It was different back then. As far as preparing for Pro Day, I never prepared for a short shuttle or a three cone drill.”
After months of preparation and Pro Day now in the books, Ohio players now wait for the NFL Draft to see if their dreams of playing professional football will come to fruition.
“That’s all we strive to do, making sure that my name gets up there as far as being another competitor,” Carrie said. “I think I put a mark on that and made sure my stamp and my name is out there.”