Preliminary Results

Today I awoke and had a breakfast of berries, bacon and eggs.  This in itself was a mistake, I have been eating a much more carb-heavy breakfast and I felt like my glycogen was a little low during the workout.  After having to navigate around 2 wrecks in 4 miles, we arrived at Athletic Evolution at 3:00.

After my warmup we did vertical jumps on the Jump Mat and I hit a PR of 39.9 inches.  I know, what about that elusive .1 inch!  I ended up jumping this height twice and we moved on to the 40.  We started with some 10 yard starts and proceeded to the 40.  I blew through the 10 yard timing gate at 1.43 on the 2nd or 3rd rep, a PR for sure and only .03 off the fastest time that I am aware of (Chris Johnson ran 1.40 en route to his 4.24 combine record).  Unfortunately we had some malfunctions with the final two gates and will have to determine the 20 and 40 yard times via Dartfish.  I feel fast and I know I'm capable of some big things as the video will confirm.  The next test was the 20 yard shuttle or 5-10-5 as some people call it.  Video timing placed this at a 4.16 which should translate to a 4.00 or so with manual timing.  At this point I was feeling fairly drained from my lack of carbs earlier in the day and I didn't perform as well on the broad jump as I would have liked.  I jumped 10'5'', a distance that is well within my capabilities.  Finally, we concluded the testing with the 225 bench test.  I cranked out 21 reps, a good number of them with the weights on the right side slightly slid out.  I didn't want to use the heavier olympic clips as they add unwanted weight and I figured that the plates would hold.  Without this issue I'm certain that I had 23 reps today.

Final Recap:

VJ:  39.9 inches

10 yard:  1.43

20 yard:  TBD

40 yard:  TBD

Broad Jump:  10'5''

20 yard shuttle:  4.16 (Dartfish)

225 rep max:  21 reps

All in all, I'm pleased with my results from today and I'm glad that we did a run through of the tests before the big dance.  Tomorrow I'll link a YouTube clip of the workout so you can see it with your own eyes.  

I would be lying if I told you that I wasn't upset about not receiving a Combine invite.  It's tough to watch my peers and competition run on that stage without me.  Furthermore, I would have loved the opportunity to go head to head with those guys and compete.  Fortunately for me, Smooth (aka Jason Smith) is getting the attention that he deserves and there will be quite a showing of scouts, coaches and GM's at our Pro Day.  I tell people that when God created a football player, he had Jason Smith in mind.  He's absolutely one of the hardest workers I've ever been around and his intensity is contagious.  If I were a GM I would build a team around a Jason Smith.

I want to thank everyone for their support and prayers, you don't know how much it means to Lauren and I.  I have such a wonderful opportunity in front of me and sharing it with my friends and family makes it all the sweeter.

Blessed,

Thomas