Brian Christopherson from Husker Extra gives us a low down on Nebraska's NFL Pro Day, which was attended by a number of pro scouts. I'm sure the number of scouts was lower than it's been in past years.
Danny Woodhead didn't get invited to the NFL combine for who knows what reason. But he shined at Nebraska's Pro Day, which is great to see.
But the big show came from 5-foot-7, 197-pound Danny Woodhead, pride of Chadron State. His 40 time registered between 4.33 and 4.38 seconds, depending on whose clock you were looking at. He had a 38 1/2-inch vertical. He also put up 225 pounds 20 times, which wasn't even as good as he wanted.
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Working out at the school that didn't offer him a scholarship, Woodhead said "there are no hard feelings." Husker coach Bo Pelini introduced himself to Woodhead before the workout.
Great stats for Woodhead. Maybe he'll get drafted, maybe he won't, I doubt that he's worried much about it. Given his nature, I'd say that all he wants is a chance to prove himself, so whether he gets drafted or brought in as a free agent won't matter to him. The people who say he'll never make a NFL roster have probably never seen him play, nor know anything about him. Chadron State isn't exactly easy to get to. If it weren't for Woodhead setting records, I doubt any of us would have a clue about him either. Perhaps the Eagles were a better choice than being stuck in the Bill Callahan era at Nebraska.
Zach Bowman did well, running well. NFL draft profiles state that teams are concerned about his knee injuries and that's understandable. At least they need not worry about his character.
The cornerback had already done his hurrying. His 40 time was between :04.32 and :04.40 — depending on who was working the stop watch. Bowman also had a vertical leap of 32 inches, not unbelievable for a corner, but an improvement from what he did at the recent NFL Combine.
I hope for Bowman's success in the NFL, not because of some justification it will provide for Nebraska football, but because Kevin Cosgrove and the 2007 season did nothing for Bowman. The guy contemplated leaving early for the NFL, but came back to the Huskers to a defense that fell apart while it's head guy had no clue as to the fix.
And then there's the matter of Maurice Purify and Carl Nicks. Carl Nicks didn't get to attend Pro day, but if Purify was there, Nicks' exclusion says something about his past behavior that isn't right. It's the implication by Pelini's disinvite that will do more damage to Nicks than a silly-assed ticket he got for not leaving a house when he was told to.
Here's how this works. When the police show up and tell everyone to leave, they mean everyone who doesn't officially live at that address. Sometimes they ask for proof. We always had our proof handy as all the way through college we kept our lease in the butter dish in the fridge. It was easy to retrieve and we all knew where it was. Hence, no tickets, no trips to jail. All Carl Nicks had to do was leave with another person and come back in an hour when the police have left. That's all.
With regards to being overblown, there weren't 75 people standing around Sam Keller when he threw a cup at a car and made national news. If you have friends that are too self-centered or too stupid to come downstairs and let you know that the police are there (remember that Purify is on probation), then find new friends.
Some simple advice for Mo Purify. Shut Up. It's not your 40 time that's going to determine where you're drafted from here on out. It's how you handle yourself publicly that determines how much money you make. I don't care if you have a problem with how the police handled your latest fiasco. Neither does the NFL. They'll find other tall, strong receivers that can jump well and run mediocre routes. Got a complaint? Tell it to the judge.