INDIANAPOLIS-
Even before it was asked, Michael Allan from Whitworth College expected the first question: Where is Whitworth College, anyway?
“Even after I tell them Spokane, sometimes they don’t recognize that, either,” the tight end said.
For the record, the school is in Spokane, Wash., the same hometown as the more well-known Gonzaga Bulldogs—who are famous for basketball, not football.
Allan became a hot commodity Thursday for one reason: Of the roughly 330 invitees to the annual NFL scouting combine, Allan is the only player from a Division III school. He was one of the few not wearing a sweatshirt and his physique hardly resembled the hulking bodies of other players.
But for Allan this week is a chance to sell himself to league scouts and give his school of a little more than 2,000 students a rare glimpse in the spotlight.
Allan did what he could to describe the school, the football team and how he emerged as an NFL prospect.
Those explanations, though, couldn’t change the obvious.
“I would think Whitworth is one of those schools nobody knows about,” he said. “I’ve gotten used to the fact that nobody knows where I’m from.”
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ON THE MEND: Ohio State receiver Ted Ginn Jr. arrived at the combine Thursday but does not intend to participate in any of the drills.
That’s not unusual for first-round prospects, who usually wait until workouts on their campuses to perform.
Ginn, though, has an excuse. He sprained his left foot during the national championship game after opening the game with a kickoff return for a touchdown. In the ensuing celebration, Ginn said he was pulled down by a teammate inadvertently and injured the foot.
Doctors, Ginn said, told the foot would heal with rest and he’s only resumed jogging this week.
What NFL scouts want to know is when will Ginn run?
“Well, I guess it will have to be before the draft,” he said. “We’ll see how I feel for the pro day.”
Ohio State’s workouts are scheduled for March 10.
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FIX-IT MAN: Guard Justin Blalock fits the prototypical offensive-lineman mold at 6-foot-4, 329 pounds.
His Texas teammates know him as something else—the electronic wizard. His presence as a general fix-it man that has brought teammates over to his apartment complex countless times.
“They came to me quite often,” he said, chuckling. “If somebody’s Xbox goes awry, I fix it. I just like to help out when I can.”
Unlike other players at the combine, who often tell stories about how their off-field interests correlate to football, Blalock acknowledges he hasn’t yet figured out a way to make the detail-oriented projects or his prowess as a guitarist and drummer work to his advantage on the field.
“I’ll let you know when I do,” he said, drawing laughter.
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MARDI GRAS: New Orleans coach Sean Payton has been a sought-after man in the local area since leading the Saints to their first NFC championship game last month. There have been so many requests for appearances that Payton said he’s barely had time to enjoy last season’s success.
And, occasionally, Payton has even accepted honors that fall outside the realm of those usual golf outings and speaking engagements.
“Monday night I rode on a float for 4 1/2 hours,” Payton said, referring to his Mardi Gras experience.
After being asked if he participated in any of the traditional bead throwing, he said: “Yes, we handed them out from the float.”
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THE FREAK: He goes by the name of Doug Free. His former teammates at Northern Illinois call him Doug Freak.
Free has been compared to Indianapolis Colts right tackle Ryan Diem, who also played at Northern Illinois, but Free has some unusual features on his resume.
Listed at 6-foot-7, 324 pounds, he’s added nearly 85 pounds since leaving high school. He has been clocked at 5.0 in the 40-yard dash, had a vertical jump of 29 inches and squats 565 pounds. And his college coach, Joe Novak, calls him a better athlete than Diem.
Novak also believes Free could play tight end in the NFL. Free isn’t so sure.
“I’ve not thought about it too much,” he said. “I guess the tight ends coaches will have to figure out whether I can do it.”
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KICKING THE HABIT: Punter Daniel Sepulveda carved out his own niche at Baylor by earning All-America honors with a circuitous route to the top.
But he certainly didn’t take the normal route to stardom.
Sepulveda arrived at Baylor as a walk-on linebacker, and only tried punting after watching a teammate who was given a scholarship.
“Just watching him, I thought to myself ‘I can compete with this guy,’ ” Sepulveda said. “So I talked to the special teams coach and he turned me down a couple of times. Eventually, I got the opportunity to kick heads-up with this guys in practice one day. … When I hit a good one, it was clear that I was better than him.”
After winning the job, Sepulveda won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter in 2004 and posted a career average of 45.2 yards, including 46.5 last season, when he was a third-team All-American. He punted while he was still recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his non-kicking foot. He was hurt in a pickup basketball game last spring.
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IN THE SWING: Kicker Mason Crosby, who played at Colorado, doesn’t worry whether playing at a lower altitude could shorten the distance on his placekicks or kickoffs. Instead, he’ll continue to rely on his usual pregame ritual.
A couple days before each game, Crosby goes to a driving range and hits about 60 balls to relax.
“I like playing golf, and it’s nice to go out and goof around a little bit,” he said. “It takes my mind off the game and what happens is my golf swing is very similar to my kicking swing, so it’s less strain on my leg and it helps me.”
Besides, if Crosby doesn’t make it in the NFL, there’s always a backup plan. He has a single-digit handicap as a golfer.
