Combine a successful experience for Ryan
by MATT RYAN, as told to JAY GLAZER, FOXSports.com
2007 stats: Matt Ryan
Heading into the Scouting Combine it was all about my 40 time. It's usually not that important for a quarterback, certainly doesn't carry the same weight as the other skill positions, but for me I wanted to stress that I'm not a complete stiff. It was important that I showed the people making the decisions that I could more than get myself out of trouble on that field. I can move and can move smoothly. But before I could line up and race the clock I had a loooooong road to travel in a short period during Combine week.
In fact, the first two days are spent on your medical history. Imagine that, two full days, days that started at 5 a.m and finished when our interviews wrapped up at about 11 p.m. The very first day you wake up, we take a drug test and then get taken to the hospital where they do blood tests, run us through a handful of other tests and then, if there's a question about anything we've ever done in our college career, we get x-rays taken on the spot. All of this is done just to set up the next day, just so the doctors we'll face the next day have information upon information on us. They find out things about us we don't even know.
Day Two begins bright and early again but this time I probably met with more than 100 doctors over the course of the day. You go into rooms with five teams in each room and each team has five or six doctors waiting to pick apart every inch of your body. It's unbelievable. They push on this, pull at that ... they tug and pop things you didn't know could pop. They find things wrong with your body you had no idea was going on. Nothing major, but they'll push somewhere then pull and all the sudden they can find some slight swelling somewhere you had no idea existed.
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You have to understand, there isn't a guy at the combine who didn't get beat up during the year. It's normal, part of our lives. You go through a season, you're going to have some wear and tear and we actually become oblivious to it. I've forgotten most of where I got dinged this year. So did everybody else I'm sure. But these doctors find buildups of fluid, loose joints, it's intense. They find things on guys that guys forget were ever there. If you're going to buy a multimillion house, you're definitely going to inspect every little nook and cranny of the house. It's the same with us. These owners are going to spend six, seven and eight figures on us, they want to make sure they know if there's the smallest of questions.
At night we go through formal interviews, informal interviews, everyone wants a 15-minute chunk of your time. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. I didn't get one crazy question from a single coach or scout. I heard all the stories about the questions in the past ... not one! Instead of asking a question I could tell my buddies about, they ask about the system we ran in college, what I'd do in certain situations, how I am off the field. Nothing special.
The question I got asked the most was what went into my decision not to play in the Senior Bowl and not to throw at the combine. I didn't want to work out at the Senior Bowl because I feel I have three years of tape that shows what I can do. I didn't throw at the Combine because I want to best showcase myself on my pro day. It's my decision and I committed to it. I wanted to follow through with what I set as my plan.
I didn't throw at the Combine but I did run and to prepare for that and my pro day I train at Athletes Performance Institute in Tempe, Ariz., working out three times a day. The place is great. They have several current NFL stars who train there together and last year had guys like Jamarcus Russell, Adrian Peterson and Brady Quinn. It's amazing the caliber of athletes who work together there to get better in order to compete against each other.
I'm not just training for the Combine and my pro day but I'm preparing for that step into the NFL. I work on movement, power and technique in the morning and lift and run in the afternoon. In between, I throw to a bunch of receivers who work out there was well. Other guys who will get drafted this year, some early. You live at API for the day and train, eat, train, eat and train some more.
So after all this work, I found myself standing inside the dome getting ready for my 40 and I started looking around the stands. It was pretty amazing. There, watching me, were guys I've watched on TV for years. Guys I've grown up watching and soon one I will play for. One afternoon I peeked into the lifting room when the linemen were lifting and bumped right into Mike Holmgren. He introduced himself and there I was talking to a guy I normally watch on TV. It didn't overwhelm me, but certainly excited me.
I stood at the line and got off a good start with technique I worked on at API. I felt stronger in my legs with more power than I had during the season. As I crossed the line for my second run I was happy with my time. The first run I was a little tight because you're standing around for a while and can get tight. But my second time I ran a 4.88, which I think is good for a guy my size. I wanted to show them I could move and I think I proved that.
I didn't take any time off, but instead shot right back to Arizona and started preparing for my pro day. The poking, prodding and same old questions should be done and I get to do what I like best — work football.
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