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Draft-eligible Vandal football players stretched and strutted through racks of weights before Pro Day in the Kibbie Dome Tuesday.
They slapped hands, hollered nicknames at each other and cracked jokes. That was until the NFL scouts had had enough.
“Hurry up. I don’t want to have to wait,” an NFL scout shouted as he’d called a player’s name for the second time to the weigh-in.
The voices around Pro Day became whispers and the players went straight to business with the humility of a freshman in high school trying to make the cut.
Scouts arrived to the dome Tuesday from the Canadian league, Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, San Diego Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Louis Rams and this year’s Super Bowl participants New England Patriots and New York Giants.
Their team logos were tagged to their chest. They hovered over athletes with clipboards, marking the test numbers as they were read aloud, appraising player’s values.
Next season’s Vandal team peered through the windows and over the balcony of the weight room. They used their cell phones as stop watches for the 40-yard dash and rallied behind their former teammates.
Similar to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, scouts measured height, weight, wingspan, hand measurements, flexibility, vertical and standing broad jumps, bench press, “L” drill, shuttle run and the 40-yard dash.
Scouts organized the 10 to 15 UI football players from the 2007 senior class and a couple from the 2006 class.
The players filled out the NFL paperwork that may someday lead to earning an NFL paycheck.
David Vobora’s name and face was familiar to every scout. They knew him from Indianapolis last week at the invitation-only NFL Combine and they had come to Idaho to get a closer look.
Vobora, who led the WAC in tackles for the second consecutive year, impressed scouts and proved his NFL value once again.
In the 40-yard dash, Vobora went from 4.7 seconds in Indianapolis to 4.59 in the dome. His vertical jump was 35.5 inches — a six-inch increase from his test in Indy. He sat out the remainder of tests.
Vobora said it was good to come back to Idaho after the “chaotic” combine last week.
“The RCA dome was full of 800 plus scouts,” Vobora said.
With doctors poking and prodding him, he said he was running everywhere he was told to go.
While Vobora stood out in the Kibbie Dome with his NFL Combine workout gear and improvements in his tests, he wasn’t the only Vandal linebacker turning heads.
Brandon Ogletree lifted 225 pounds 27 times and ran the fastest 40-yard dash time with 4.41 seconds. As soon as he crossed the line, scouts turned to each other and asked if their stop watch was accurate.
Not only did he beat everyone in the dome, Ogletree’s time was the fastest compared to any other linebacker timed at the combine in Indianapolis.
Stanley Franks ran the day’s second fastest 40-yard dash time at 4.43 seconds. He jumped 38 inches, for in the highest vertical jump of the day.
Mike Cox, a scout for the St. Louis Rams, hadn’t been in the Kibbie Dome since he’d coached with the Vandals from 1987-1994.
“They ran real good times and both improved,” Cox said about Vobora and Franks.
A native of Coeur d’Alene, Cox helped the Vandals to four Big Sky Conference Championships before leaving to coach at Utah State, Michigan State and Louisville. He still ranks among the Vandals’ all-time leaders in tackles from when he played for Dennis Erickson and Keith Gilbertson.
“Vobora’s change of direction was the most impressive thing in Indianapolis,” Cox said.
He said NFL teams have about seven scouts who are “well aware” of every prospective professional player in the nation.
Idaho junior Shiloh Keo sat in the stands with players from next season’s team timing with cell phones for the 40-yard dash.
At the end of time trials, he came down on field to congratulate his former teammates. Keo said it was good to see teammates come back after they had left last semester.
He smiled at the mention of showcasing himself at Indianapolis in the future. Keo was named the John Friesz Most Valuable Player for last season and still has two years of eligibility left.
“This gives me something to look forward to and strive for,” he said.
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