Yesterday was Pro Day on Rocky Top, and several former Vols football players were in action hoping to improve their NFL Draft stock.
Shining on #ProDay 🍊🏈
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— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) March 19, 2018
Rashaan Gaulden
Rashaan Gaulden, of course, had to answer for probably the 100th time a question about his double-bird to the Alabama fan section last season and had what I consider to be a nearly perfect answer:
“It’s just, you know, I’m a very passionate guy when I step on the field,” Gaulden said. “I hate Alabama, and that’s just how it is. But at the same time, I’ve got to know that there’s no place in sports for that kind of thing to happen.”
“I obviously don’t want to be remembered that way at Tennessee,” he said. “I feel like I made a lot of plays and different things like that, so that’s not how I want to be remembered, but I’m gonna have to live with it. But I’ve definitely matured since then.”
More from Gaulden:
☑️ NFL Combine
☑️ #ProDay@Gmoney_7era talks about his showing in front of NFL scouts on MondayMore » https://t.co/wnZgOeuyKS pic.twitter.com/J2abJv8rA7
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) March 20, 2018
John Kelly
John Kelly had an important, if somewhat ambiguously-defined, answer for what he wanted to put up as his 40-time:
“Something that’s not slow,” he said, smiling.
More from Kelly:
Evan Berry
Now that kick return specialist Evan Berry is his own man, he’s decided to take matters into his own hands and put himself on offense:
“I was planning on doing both [offense and defense],” Berry said after his workout. “But then around mid-January, I decided that I just wanted to put all my focus into one thing and do that to the best of my ability without having to worry about two things at one time. I just chose one. Life is too short, and I chose what I really felt comfortable with and what I really wanted to do. That’s how I narrowed it down. I was pretty much determined to do it.”
More from Berry:
Kahlil McKenzie
Not to be outdone, defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie also put in some time on the offensive side of the ball:
“A couple of coaches asked me if I’d be willing to do the drills,” McKenzie said after finishing his Pro Day workout at the Anderson Training Center, “and I told them it’s good with me, so I just went out there and did some of the O-line drills.
“That’s the first time I’ve been asked to do an offensive line type of stuff. (NFL Scouting) Combine, I did strictly D-line things. I get questions all the time sometimes about offensive line stuff, but you know, you just kind of focus on what you’re getting asked to do.”
More from McKenzie:
Trevor Daniel
And we’ve heard all of the legends about punter Trevor Daniel’s freakish athleticism (for a punter), but he says it’s doing nothing for him with the NFL Scouts:
“It doesn’t mean anything, honestly,” he said. “I just did it to do it. They’ll tell you they don’t really care that I got 23 reps on the bench. That doesn’t matter. They just want you to kick good.”
More from Daniel:
More from #ProDay ⤵️@TrevorDaniel93 on his path from walk-on all the way to the NFL Combine 🍊🏈#GBO #ForTheBrand pic.twitter.com/4ztlM5lgRt
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) March 20, 2018
Other guys
“It’s a relief to come out here and put your best effort out.” @jumper_53 reflects on his performance at #ProDay 🍊🏈
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— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) March 20, 2018