Dallas native DeMarcus Love is providing a weekly diary for ESPN Dallas on his quest to make an NFL team. Love, who attended Carter High School and the University of Arkansas, is projected to be picked late in the first round or early in the second round of the draft.
The offensive lineman can play tackle or guard, but NFL teams want him mainly at tackle.
Spend some time with Love as he describes his journey to the NFL. This week's entry recounts his experience at the combine in Indianapolis.
I left for the combine Wednesday morning and was pretty excited about the process. I'd seen the entire deal on television, so I just wanted to show off my skills to teams and stuff.
When I got to town, I just couldn't sleep. I was so hyped up and excited about things that by the time I did get to sleep, it was time to wake up. They woke us up around 5:30 a.m. and took us to a local hospital for physicals.
They checked out my entire body, and if you had an old injury, they would make you get an MRI. I didn't have any of those, but I had to tell them everything that was wrong with me, a nagging injury, anything.
I talked to about 20 NFL teams, but I had four 15-minute meetings with the Raiders, Panthers, Lions and Steelers. The questions were pretty basic, but these NFL teams do their homework. They know everything about you. You meet with scouts, coaches and all sorts of things. Teams asked me about leadership and what I would do in certain off-the-field situations. It was OK; it was pretty fun. But sometimes the questions and things can get nerve racking.
I also took this Wonderlic test and it was cool. It was basic, and I thought I did pretty good. Not sure on my score, but it wasn't scary at all.
When it came time for the workouts, I was excited to do the bench press. I lifted 225 pounds 28 times, but my goal was to do it 30, and when I get back to training, I want to work harder on that.
I ran my 40-yard dash times about 5.29 and 5.28 seconds, and that wasn't what I wanted to do. My agility time, 4.84, has to get down, and my cones were 7.7. After seeing these drills up close, I think when I have my pro day in a few weeks it will be better.
In terms of my stock, I don't think I did anything to help or hurt myself. I could have done better, but that's what I have my pro days for.
I got home Saturday night, and spent time with family and friends, and just chilled out a little bit. I did finally get some sleep. I guess I was so hyped up about things that I couldn't when I was in Indy. Now I'm getting some rest before I get back to work at the Michael Johnson Performance Center in McKinney.