Orange Trio Workout for NFL Scouts
3/4/2010 6:58:02 PM | Football
Three Orange seniors showed off their skills on Thursday, March 4 for Pro Day at the Carrier Dome. Quarterbacks Greg Paulus and Cam Dantley and tight end Mike Owen participated in a variety of drills in front of 12-15 NFL scouts. Several local NFL teams of interest were represented, including the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints. After agility and strength drills, the quarterbacks took turns throwing routes to Owen.
“To have him [Dantley] there to alternate reps with me made it kind of like practice where he goes one and I go one,” Paulus said “It kind of felt like we were practicing in the fall again.”
While the season concluded at the end of November, Paulus, Dantley and Owen have not taken time off. They have focused on their Pro Day opportunity, working out daily with Syracuse assistant athletics director for strength and conditioning Will Hicks and head strength and conditioning coach Hal Luther.
“It's night and day,” Paulus said of his growth since joining the Orange in August after a four-year basketball career at Duke. “Having a whole season under your belt and being able to throw consistently for the last couple months has been improving my strength in my legs and my arm. I just feel so much better than I did a few months ago, let alone a year ago.”
Pro Day is a great opportunity for student-athletes to prove their value to an NFL team, but it is just one step in the process.
“The tough part is over but you still have to train hard because you never know what will happen,” Owen said of the next step. “You might have to do a private workout or something, you never know. You always have to stay in shape until you get a call.”
Getting ready for Pro Day is an arduous process that requires a lot of dedication and preparation. All three SU student-athletes relied on the vast experience offered by Hicks and Luther.
“There are a lot of things that Coach Hicks and Coach Luther have been doing since I've been here to help us get better as players fundamentally and physically,” Dantley said. “I will keep working out. I enjoy working out every day and getting better. If I continue from this point and keep getting better physically and with my throwing ability and fundamentals, I have all the confidence in myself that I can get to the next level.”
“Coach Hicks did a great job of preparing us; whether it was running tests, different types of footwork, or the organization of everything,” Paulus said. “It was exactly what we thought it would be and I think we were well prepared for it.”
Preparation for the April 22 National Football League draft is paramount to the student-athletes in their quest to join the long list of former Orange standouts in the National Football League.
“It was fun to be back out in Carrier Dome again, running routes and having fun,” Owen said.
