Robinson and Murphy show skills at Combine

With two months until graduation, seniors are thinking about two things: resumes and job interviews. Shawn Murphy and Kevin Robinson are no different … well, there may be subtle differences. Murphy and Robinson have resumes, but they aren’t so much paper as they are stacks of tape depicting every college game they played at USU. And although they interviewed for jobs, it wasn’t the sort of suit-and-tie-corporate-formal scene many of their fellow USU soon-to-be graduates will be grimacing through come May 3. Murphy and Robinson attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Ind. “Basically, it’s the most thorough job interview you’ll ever do,” Murphy, an offensive guard for the Aggies, said. “It’s sort of a week-long combination of a job interview and boot camp.” The process-something both men described as grueling, tiring or both-is what the NFL uses to asses the mental and physical skills of potential draftees before teams pick their future stars on April 26-27. “It was the longest three days of my life,” said Robinson, a wide receiver, kick returner and all-around playmaker for the Aggies for the last four years. “I learned a lot from it. I’m just glad I don’t have to go through it again.” Murphy echoed Robinson: “Every day was long. It felt like I was there for a month.” A lot of the grind of the Combine was the waiting. In the hospital, for tests and X-rays. In the team rooms to get further physical examinations. In the interview rooms. And finally, in the RCA Dome to showcase their physical tools in drills, and test-like the 40-yard dash, vertical jump and 20-yard shuttle. Most people are only familiar with the physical workouts-the ones that produce 4.somethings or 30-plus reps, and get televised, scrutinized and analyzed on ESPN or the NFL Network. But Murphy said it’s actually the other, less-TV-friendly stuff, like the interviews and medical exams that are the biggest deal. “The most important parts of the Combine happen behind closed doors,” he said. “They know if a player can play, and if he can move and if he’s strong. But they really want to know if you’re medically sound and if you’re mentally capable.” Some coaches try to intimidate players during their individual meetings, Murphy said. He met individually with the Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams, while Robinson met with the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and San Fransisco 49ers. In the interviews, the coaches are “border-line interrogating you,” said Murphy, who got yelled at by new Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano during his interview. Murphy said he was also able to do shorter meetings with coaches from 20 other teams at the train station, which is where all the teams have a table set up and can sit down with players for 15 minutes. Murphy said his roommate, Dave Hale, from Weber State, compared the mini-meetings to speed dating. “You have to stay calm, stay cool (during the interviews),” he said. “There’s no real trick to it, you just have to fake it.” Murphy said everything from the lack of sleep-only five or six hours a night-to the 18-hour days, to the train that rumbled over the top of his hotel every two hours during the night, are ways to test the way players will react to pressure, nerves and criticism. That’s not to say the physical drills weren’t nerve-racking. Murphy said a lineman that ran the 40 a few people ahead of him came out of his stance and fell flat on his face. “I was about to pee my pants,” Murphy said. “I was like, ‘If I fall on my face in front of all these scouts, on national television, I’ll just walk into the corner and start crying, or something.’ After that it got a little nerve-racking.” Both Robinson and Murphy felt like they could have had better times in the 40-yard dash. Murphy ran an unofficial time of 5.3, while Robinson unofficially clocked in at 4.69, although he said his agent had him at 4.56. Robinson also said he was battling some pain in his knee from an injury during the Hawaii game. But like the other tests at the Combine-including the Wonderlic test that Robinson described as another SAT or ACT-the participants are kept in the dark about what their times and scores are. “After you finish running your 40-yard dash, it’s just quiet, and you wonder if you did something wrong,” Murphy said. The Aggie teammates felt they did well in position-specific drills. Robinson was especially focused on his wide receiver drills. “My whole thought process about going to the Combine was just showing myself as a receiver,” he said. “Everyone knows I’m a great returner and that’s fine, but I just wanted to prove I’m a legit receiver.” Besides a good showing in offensive line drills, Murphy excelled at the bench press, showing up on NFL.com’s top performers list with 29 reps of 225-the high was 37, put up by Michigan tackle Jake Long and Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston. Bench press was optional for Robinson. “Some (receivers) will do (bench) just to show off … I was good on that,” he said. Even though Robinson and Murphy weren’t happy with some of their times, it wasn’t their last chance to get the results they want. USU had their Pro Day on Tuesday, which gave the two-and other Aggie seniors not invited to the Combine-a chance to work out for regional scouts from, what Murphy said would be, about 25-30 NFL teams. Robinson said he will participate full in the Pro Day, running and doing any other drills the scouts want to see. Murphy is doing everything but the bench press. “That’s what everyone sees as the backup plan to the Combine,” Murphy said. “If you don’t get a certain time you want in a certain drill at the Combine, you can practice and do it on the Pro Day and hope to get a better time.” Despite all the emphasis on times and numbers, that’s not everything in the pre-draft process. Robinson brought up the slow times Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith ran at the Combine as examples showing the disconnect between achievement on the field and achievement at the Combine. “I just feel like I’m one of those players that-maybe I didn’t do so good according to what the scouts and the analysts say-but I know what I can do on the field,” he said. After April 27, Robinson and Murphy will know if they’ll get a chance to prove what they can do on the field on Sundays.- da.bake@aggiemail.usu.edu

Shawn Murphy’s Combine Itinerary-Tuesday: Check in, one of the first arrivals with roommate Dave Hale from Weber State.- Wednesday: Drug testing and hospital day. After breakfast, go to the hospital for the rest of the day. Get a very thorough routine physical. X-Rays and blood tests. During the evening, go to the train station for interviews.- Thursday: Team physical day. Each room in the RCA Dome has four or five teams in it. Get checked out by the doctor from each team. Go from room to room all day. Back to the hospital for any additional MRIs and scans. Another round of interviews in the evening.- Friday: Bench press and Wonderlic Test in the morning until about 5 p.m. Then interviews in the evening.- Saturday: Workout day. Wake up at 5 a.m., have breakfast. Sit around waiting for workout to start, stretch and warm up. Work out for about an hour and a half and then get on a plane.

Kevin Robinson’s Combine Itinerary- Thursday: Get into Indianapolis and go to the hospital with 30 other players. Get blood drawn, X-rays and heart screenings.- Friday: Meet with all the trainers to go over all past injuries and get more MRIs if needed. In the evening, personal interviews with teams from 6-11 p.m.- Saturday: Do a drug test in the morning and go to meetings about money and agents. Skip the bench press and take the Wonderlic. Then more individual meetings in the evening. – Sunday: Up at 5 a.m. Workouts, including 40-yard dash, verticals, broad jumps, shuttles and position drills, for the rest of the day.

former usu OFFENSIVE LINEMAN shawn murphy, middle,
follows directions of an NFL scout as teammate Pace Jorgensen looks on Tuesday at the Stan Laub Center. (Cameron Peterson)