Cat Scratch Reader
A 32 year old blogger throws his hat into the ring on draft week.
The 2024 NFL Draft is just days away. Teams have combed through immeasurable amounts of film, attended workouts, held visits with prospects, and finalized their draft boards. But there is one more competitor who is throwing his hat into the ring for their consideration—me. And if there’s one thing NFL teams covet, it’s a 32 year old blogger.
Before we get into the details of the workout, we have to cover the anthropometry. One of the best things I have going for me is that I kinda look like a football player and my physical measurements resemble one.
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 252 pounds
Arm length: 31.25”
Hand size: 9.0”
Not bad. Looks like a linebacker or something. Perhaps there’s something to work with here if we shed like 20 pounds.
I went out to my local park a few days ago to run the main drills that they do at the combine to the best of my ability. I did not practice the drills at all. The extent of my preparation was watching roughly 5 minutes of videos to make sure I measured out and executed the drills correctly. I did them on a mediocrely maintained softball field outfield that was not exactly smooth, soft, or even. My times were taken by my almost eight-and-a-half months pregnant girlfriend who is the best sport ever for humoring me while I did this. I’m not making excuses or anything; this was definitely a pro style environment.
On to the fun stuff. After about eight to ten minutes of dry runs, we took the field for the 40. We did a couple of runs of that, then moved on to the 3 cone drill, 20 yard shuttle, and broad jump. I had to go home to do the vertical leap test (which I did but seeing how high I could touch on the angled roof of my shed). I went to the gym the following morning, slapped a couple of plates on each side, and repped out 225 pounds as many times as I could.
The results:
40 yard dash: 5.38
3 cone: 8.11
20 yard shuttle: 4.6
Broad jump: 7’3”
Vertical: 24”
Bench press: 18
According to my Relative Athletic Score, my best bet is to be a long snapper, and an unathletic one at that. It’s really boosted by the bench press result, which is unsurprising since that’s the one drill I actually do on a regular basis. My butt came off the bench grinding for the 18th rep, which would have nullified it if this was real, but you’ve gotta let me have this one.
But there are things these drills can’t measure—grit, toughness, and durability. Many would argue that those are the most important traits in a football player. I did all of those drills on a less-than-stellar field with no practice. I even had a nice little slip on one of the 3 cone...
