There were 97 guys scheduled to go Saturday and all 97 showed up. I think this is the probably the first time in history that I can remember in which we had everyone show up for the whole event -- 330 in all. There's always one or two every year that can't show up for one reason or another or that have to drop out at the last minute.
On Saturday night it was Colts GM Bill Polian who was the person that gave the speech to the players. But that night, just like every night, Eddie White from Reebok wowed all the players. He gets the Most Glib Award for the Combine by being very engaging to everyone in attendance.
BEST TIMES
Sunday had the remainder of running backs, as well as a group of quarterbacks and one of wide receivers.
The best times among the runners were Leon Washington (Florida State) at 4.40; Jerious Norwood (Mississippi State) at 4.40; Wendell Mathis (Fresno State) at 4.50; Derrick Ross (Tarleton State) at 4.50. This was second group of RBs to run at the Combine.
Of the quarterbacks, Bruce Gradkowski (Toldeo) was the fastest at 4.62; Tarvaris Jackson (Alabama State) ran 4.65; Jay Cutler (Vanderbilt) ran 4.78; and Brodie Croyle (Alabama) came in at 4.84.
The wide receivers were speedy. Florida's Chad Jackson was the fastest at 4.36; then Will Blackmon (Boston College) ran 4.45; and Derrick Hagan (Arizona State) ran 4.47.
In the running backs group, there were 13 guys total, but two didn't work out by their own choice and two had medical exemptions. In the next group, there were 12 quarterbacks, but Matt Leinart had to go home and Oregon's Kellen Clemens was medically excused while he recovers from an ankle injury. All the other 10 worked out. The wide receivers had 20 in the group, and only two did not run -- Ohio State's Santonio Holmes and Michigan's Jason Avant.
The second grouping of quarterbacks and wide receivers on Sunday saw 11 of 13 QBs run and 19 of 20 WRs run. The fastest quarterback of the day was Reggie McNeil (Texas A&M), who ran 4.37. Brad Smith (Missouri) ran 4.53.
Sinorice Moss (Miami, Fla.) ran 4.43 for the wideouts; Ben Obomano (Auburn) ran 4.46; Willie Reid (Florida State) ran 4.37; Jeff Webb (San Diego State) ran 4.41.
LONG AND SHORT OF IT
Defensive backs
Tallest: Jimmy Williams, Virginia Tech, 6-foot-2 3/8
Shortest:Tim Jennings, Georgia, 5-foot-73/4
Heaviest: Darnell Bing, Southern Cal, 227
Lightest: Kelly Jennings, Miami (Fla.), 178
Linebackers
Tallest: Cameron Vaughn, LSU, 6-foot-33/4
Shortest: Khalid Naziruddin, Texas Tech, 5-foot-9 1/8
Heaviest: Freddie Roach, Alabama, 257
Lightest: David Pittman, Northwestern, 182
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Everyone wonders why I enjoy coming so much, and I tell them that I enjoy the interaction with the players, especially in the evenings. Saturday night it was Jimmy Williams (Virginia Tech), Mathias Kiwanuka (Boston College), Holmes. For me it's a fun, fun time, and the one purpose I serve is to convince them this is all in their best interest and it should be easy for them. This afternoon when Jeremy Bloom ran, there were a bunch of people in the stands that cheered when he was announced. He ended up running his 40 in 4.50.
Carolina offensive coordinator Dan Henning approached Bill Parcells and asked if it was OK to sit in the "royal box" (Parcells, Al Davis, Gil Brandt). During some downtime Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told me about their new stadium and how excited about the whole process. They will begin to move dirt next week.
