Mark Clayton - Journal II - ESPN

[Dallas]

I think some of us have expressed an interest in the Cowboys drafting Mark Clayton w/ our #2 1st rounder. Some might already know Mark is keeping a journal on ESPN. I was able to catch this one earlier today and wanted to dop it here. This kid really does seem like he has his head on straight. I surely would love to see him in Dallas.

By Mark Clayton
NFL Draft prospect

Workouts went a little different than last week because the combine is coming up.

We didn't do as much on the legs and didn't go twice a day, but worked more on technique. We practiced starting the 40s, jumping and mixing everything in. They wanted us to get a feel for how the combine is going to go.

We practiced getting down in a stance for the 40. You get more explosion coming out of the stance, just like they do in track. I ran a couple of 4.4s this week. I'm maintaining my weight too -- 190. I was around 193 for the past couple of weeks and my body fat was around 4 percent.

The NFL Network came and visited and recorded us catching some balls. Ryan Fitzgerald, the quarterback from Harvard, came in and threw us some balls. Fred Gibson, J.R. Russell and I did interviews. It was pretty fun. We were talking about why we came down to Athletes' Performance Institute (API) and getting ready for the combine. The interviews are cool. We were acting like the ball was the microphone and whoever had the ball, had the floor. Every once in a while one of us would be the commentator and ask the questions. It was fun, I did a good job with it.

I'm excited about the combine. Everyone around here is getting excited. Some people are jumping around and screaming "I can't wait!" Carnell "Cadillac" Williams is the funniest, he's got this little thing where he yells "Woooo!"

We are supposed to be busy from the time we get there to the time we leave. It's going to be intense, but every player is different. For the most part we are going to waiting. But it is a matter of turning it off and turning it on. There are a bunch of guys, especially when we do our drills. We'll go and run the 40 and probably not run again for 20-30 minutes.

During the wait time, I'll sit down and think about it -- what I did wrong and then stretch and do that for a minute. Then I'll start my warmup ritual again and hopefully by the time that's over, it will be time to run again and I'll be ready to go.

We also have to take the Wonderlic -- it's pretty much an IQ test. I'm not worried about it, I'm a pretty smart cat. I usually can figure it out.

There isn't necessarily a curfew there, but if you are smart, you go to bed as soon as possible. It's common sense, but nothing is mandatory. You have to act professional and do your job right. I'll definitely be in bed early.

Another thing I've been looking at is shoe contracts. Nike and Reebok is something I'm looking at, but it's too early to decide. I have to look it at from a business perspective as far as what shoe is more comfortable, how they treat you as a client -- that plays into the decision.

During some free time, we went to watch Cedric the Entertainer on Monday. Brodney Pool, Ronnie Brown, Brendan Jones went with me. It was so funny. My cheeks were hurting so bad. I was trying to stop laughing, but I couldn't.

Clayton will check back next week on how the combine went and what his plans are for the next few months.

[royhitshard]

Thank you for posting that. He definately sounds like his head is on straight. I would love to have Mark Clayton here! He will be a great WR no matter where he goes.

[Roughneck]

Hate OU but have a huge amount of respect for Clayton and would love to have him as a Cowboy. Dude does more after the catch than any College Receiver in recent memory.