Football | 4/26/2012 11:58:00 AM

Western Oregon's Sports Information Director Danny Barnts had the chance to sit down with the Wolves' NFL draft prospectfor a question & answer session to get insight into his training, his Pro Day experience and about earning his degree from WOU.What have you been doing since the season ended?Over Winter Break I went over to New Jersey and trained at the test football academy in Martinsville with Brian Martin and Ato Boldon was my speed coach. He is one of the elite sprint coaches in track and field so he got my 40 pretty dialed in. I was just about a month over Winter Break then came back here and graduated at the end of Winter Term. Now I am just training here at Western Oregon with the Director of Sports PerformanceWhat degree did you graduate with?I changed my degree to Interdisciplinary Studies. I was in the Education program but it worked out better for me to switch majors because if football doesn't work out I can still have a degree and still do the MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching).How was your Pro Day experience?It was a little a nerve racking. It was different than anything I am used to doing here. I did well overall in my tests. I have done better at each of the tests though. But overall combined it rated well against others in the country.What was the most interesting part of the Pro Day?The speed. I didn't think it would go as quick as it did. I wasn't anticipating the short amount of time in between everything. That might have been part of why some of my marks weren't where I wanted them to be. It went by in a flash.Had you practiced all the drills you saw on Pro Day?With the running we were doing it twice a day trying to get used to it, but you can't really prepare for anything like that.How is it dealing with NFL scouts?It's not bad. Some like you a lot and some of them hate you. But my agent just tell me to be myself because if they like you they do, if they don't they don't.How does this experience compare to getting recruited to college?It's funny you should ask because it is identical to a recruiting trip but a role reversal. When you go on a recruiting trip you deal with the coaches and they are trying to get you to come there. When you deal with the NFL you have to sell yourself the entire time. It is a lot more stressful. You aren't being wined and dined, you have to impress while everything else is going on.Have you caught yourself looking at any of the draft boards?I do. It's weird but I know I'm doing well (in the draft workouts) if the fan forums say I'm going to get picked because they don't really know much about me. They have just seen my YouTube video and think the teams he played against weren't very good. So I know the opinion of the teams and the coaches are going to be higher on ne than the people on those forums. But it is interesting to see what is out there.Are you still in contact the Western Oregon football coaches and your teammates?I talk to coach Ferguson and the other coaches quite a bit. I keep in touch here and there but mostly I just train and that is my day. It is not really an exciting life right now. Most of my time is spent at the weight room or at home.What has been your favorite experience of the past couple months?I really enjoyed playing in the Players All-Star Game. You get to play against guys you see on TV and you find out that you are just as good, if not better, than those guys. You go in with people asking 'where is Western Oregon?' The first question they ask is what division is that, but by the end of the week they are say 'you can really play.'What will you be doing during the draft?No plans really. I will be hanging out in Monmouth. I know my mom wants to come up but I don't want her to come up because it will turn into this big thing. Mostly I will just be kicking back with my cell phone on. Maybe playing some video games or some basketball, really just things to keep my mind off of it because it is going to be the longest day of my life.