UH Pro Day Report

HA Note: "Former University of Hawai'i football players Hercules Satele and Ryan Grice-Mullins had standout individual performances during yesterday's Pro Day at the Home Depot Center. Satele, an offensive guard, bench pressed 225 pounds 40 times. Grice-Mullins, a slotback, sped 40 yards in 4.33 seconds. They were among 19 former Warriors who participated in what was essentially an audition before more than 50 National Football League scouts. Satele, who was raised in nearby Long Beach, had entered with a personal best of 26 repetitions of 225 pounds. Satele spent the past three months training in strength coach Harold "Fudge" Fajardo's home gym in Mililani. Yesterday's weight testing was conducted under a tent on a soccer field. Scouts and teammates formed a mosh pit around the bench-press station."

About his 40 reps of 225 pounds, Hercules said:
"I had to calm down, black out everyone around, and pretend I was lifting back home. I took (Fajardo's) advice throughout the whole training. I had my rhythm going until I couldn't go anymore." (HA)

About how Fudge advised him not to lift in the week leading up to Pro Day, Hercules said:
"He said that would make you hungry for the (weight-lifting) bar. All of the things you didn't do the whole week, you're going to take it out on the bar." (HA)

About how he believes Hercules could have even done more reps, Timo Paepule said:
"I knew he'd put up 40. He's a beast." (HA)

About Hercules' 40 reps, a scout said:
"It wasn't as much brute strength as it was technique. Some of the reps might not have been counted at the combine, where they're pretty strict." (HSB)

About his 4.46 time in the 40-yard dash at the Combine, RGM said:
"I was mad. I knew I could do better. It was a setup for this." (HA)

HA Note: "At the combine, the 40-yard sprint was held on FieldTurf, an artificial surface in which the "blades" are the length of lawn grass. Yesterday's sprint was held outdoors and on carpet-like AstroTurf. Each of the scouts recorded the sprint times using their own stopwatches. According to one scout, Grice-Mullins ran the distance in 4.27 seconds. A cluster of scouts credited Grice-Mullins with running between 4.33 seconds and 4.36 seconds."

About his 40-yard time, RGM said:
"That's solid." (HA)

About how his blazingly fast 40 time may have significantly improved his draft position, RGM said:
"It got a little bit of a buzz going. Some teams are calling my agent and I might be doing some visits. It was kind of funny because a lot of people were surprised today. But I wasn't. I was disappointed with my times at the combine. At the combine I ran (and) people were like, 'Those are good times.' I didn't think so." (HSB)

About how he was more comfortable at Pro Day than he was at the combine, RGM said:
"At the combine it was a lot of waiting around, and I think I got a little tight. Here, I was in a comfort zone." (HSB)

About suffering a "tweaked" hamstring during the passing drills, which prevented him from running his routes at top speed, RGM said:
"It sucks. I want to perform, I don't want to stop and not do anything." (HA)

HA Note: "Slotback Davone Bess, wideout Jason Rivers and defensive end Karl Noa also suffered hamstring problems. Bess sustained hamstring tightness two weeks ago. He aggravated the condition during yesterday's 40-yard dash. After 35 yards, he appeared to slow. Still, one scout credited Bess with a 40-yard time of 4.49, shaving 0.13 seconds off his sprint at the combine."

About RGM's rising draft stock, a veteran NFL scout who timing RGM yesterday said:
"He's now a solid third- or fourth-round pick, and could go higher. He definitely moves to the head of the class of the Hawaii receivers." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Another scout said the 4.33 time is legit. "A couple guys actually had him at 4.27. I had him at 4.36 and 4.38," said the scout, who added that the track was fast, and the times would convert to around 4.45 to 4.47 on grass."

Wynn Silberman, agent for Kamehameha graduate TE Kolo Kapanui, talked about RGM's rising draft stock:
"It puts him on the map and forces teams to put him on their board. Now they'll pull game tape on him, and if they pull one where he has a decent performance, that helps him a lot. The bottom line today is Ryan showed some great speed, and that is a major commodity in the draft." (HSB)

RGM's agent Ryan Tollner said that his 40 time changes him from a role player at slotback to a game-breaking wideout:
"I'd say he's shown he's got explosiveness, speed, that he can get into a second gear and beyond. And he's such a good guy. Ryan's got a likeability to him. He's approachable, but not an ego guy." (HSB)

About how he now has to wait for the draft, RGM (who will be in Hawaii next week to relax for a few days) said:
"I've done everything I can, so now I kind of wait and see. My lowest time was 4.27 and the highest 4.40 or 4.41, so they liked the consistency." (HSB)

About how he improved his 40-yard time from the combine despite aggravating his hamstring injury, Bess said:
"That's why I'm not really trippin'." (HA)

About not doing any of the running events after his hamstring injury and being stationed at a specific spot during the passing drills, Bess said:
"I need to rest (the hamstring). It was a matter of going at it for so long. I went straight from my bowl game (Jan. 1) to training. My body hasn't had rest yet." (HA)

HA Note: "With Rivers, Bess and Grice-Mullins slowed, that left wideout C.J. Hawthorne to run the deep routes. Over and over."

About running the deep routes over and over, Hawthorne said;
"It's OK, you don't have to feel sorry for me. It benefited me in the long run. I'm thankful to be healthy." (HA)

Praising how hard Hawthorne worked during the passing drills, Colt said:
"C.J. worked really hard for me. I think the scouts noticed that, too, and that might help him." (HSB)

HSB Note: "The Hawaii receivers have a reputation for being able to run route after route without getting gassed, but observers said that wasn't the case yesterday. "All the receivers looked like they were tired when they were running routes, like they were just training for the 40 instead of football," a scout said."

HA Note: "Defensive end Amani Purcell had to borrow shoes to run sprints on the AstroTurf. He only brought cleats, which were better suited for the FieldTurf used during passing drills."

About having to keep switching his shoes, Amani Purcell (who still did very well in my opinion) said:
"I kept switching on and off. It kind of took my focus off." (HA)

About how the AstroTurf was slippery, Siave Seti said:
"We weren't used to it." (HA)

HA Note: "Many of the scouts left after the passing drills. UH associate head coach Rich Miano, who coordinated the event, led the defensive backs in drills that were recorded on video. Copies will be sent to each NFL team."

About how the LBs did not have any field drills, Timo said:
"Hopefully the linebackers did enough to open somebody's eyes." (HA)

About how it was nice that they could get together again for Pro Day, Bess said:
"It felt good to see everyone again. This was probably one of the last times we'll all be together. At the same time, we're always going to have the brotherhood and camaraderie. We're so blessed to have been in this situation." (HA)

HSB Note: "C.J. Hawthorne ran around 4.59 and 4.61, but muscled up with 20 reps of 225 pounds. Not bad for a wiry guy who weighed in at under 168 pounds last year. "They were nice reps. Controlled. He was very strong and impressive for a guy his size," a scout said."

About their Pro Day, Colt said:
"This workout is a chance for us to come out here and showcase our strengths and I think the guys tested really well, we had a real intense workout set up and I think that people could walk away with a lot of respect for what we were trying to do today." (KHNL)

About how he ran a much faster time than he did at the combine, RGM said:
"At the combine I thought I had a solid day, I definitely knew I could do better and that's why I came out here today. I definitely proved myself and ran the fastest time and that's all I was aiming for and I succeeded my expectations." (KHNL)

About how the injuries to the WRs hampered their Pro Day drills, Colt said:
"Had they all been a hundred percent today we we would've been ooin and awwin' everybody but that's life and I think considering their tight hamstrings we had a great day." (KHNL)

About his torn labrum, Colt said:
"Unfortunately i'll have to get a minor arthroscopic surgery that will have me out a couple weeks but it's something that's real minor and when I get back i'll be back 100%" (KHNL)

Talking to the people of Hawaii, Colt said:
"I think we did a lot of good for ourselves, and we miss Hawai'i, take care aloha." (KHNL)