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It’s draft week, and the pros beckon ex-LHS and USC standout Jeff Byers
http://www.reporterherald.com/Sports-Story.asp?ID=27773
By Mike Brohard
Loveland Reporter-Herald
As a senior in 2004, Jeff Byers could do no wrong.
All he heard while finishing out his time at Loveland High School was how great he was. He was tabbed the top prospect in the nation and was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, a rare honor for an offensive lineman.
Flash forward six years, and the conversations are much different. Thus is the difference in being recruited by college coaches who will do anything to have you on campus and trying to prove yourself to NFL scouts who act as if they could take you or leave you.
Which, in reality, they can, as the NFL Draft becomes a prime-time, three-day affair this year, starting Thursday (5:30 p.m.; ESPN-27).
“In college, everybody wants to make you feel good,” Byers said. “They want you to come there; they’re going to tell you what you want. When the NFL comes knocking, it’s all business. They want to know all your dirty little secrets. They want to know why you messed up here, why you did what you did here, what your thought process was. ...
“They don’t care what you think of them.”
It has been a long road for Byers — longer than most — but a beneficial one, too.
He signed at Southern California, where he helped the Trojans win a national championship. He finished as a third-team Associated Press All-American.
On the flip side, two injuries (hip and back) in 2005-06 slowed him down, but he found a silver lining.
Byers used the extra class time (he was granted a medical hardship year by the NCAA) to earn an MBA to go along with his undergraduate degree in business administration with an emphasis in management consulting and strategic management.
Obviously, Byers has options, but he’d like to use those skills to enhance his NFL experience instead.
“I do not want to solely use my backup plan, but there’s no question I’m going to use my MBA while I’m playing, as long as I’m playing, because there’s a lot of things I’ve learned,” he said. “There’s a couple of goals I have. I want to start a non-profit or something, and be able to do that. All my business skills I’ve learned will definitely help me invest some of my own money and managing my own life so I don’t have to pay somebody to do things for me.”
As much as he’s anticipated this week, he’s not about to stress out about it. Former teammates have told him the worst thing to do is to wait around and, well, wait.
Byers won’t be near a television through the process.
Instead, he’ll join the family for an annual trip out to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, a major college track meet at the school Byers’ father, Al, attended.
Besides, his cell phone will ring as loudly in the stands as it will in the family living room.
“The body of work I’ve laid out over my life as a young man, that’s what they’re evaluating, and what they think of me is where I’ll go,” he said. “I feel like I’ve done the best I possibly could do.
“I’m happy with where I’m at, and I’d just like to have the opportunity to play somewhere and make a team. That’s all you can ask for.”
All it takes is for one team to be interested to get that shot. Dave McCloughan, the director of college scouting for the San Francisco 49ers — and somebody who has seen Byers from his prep days — has no doubts that team is out there.
“He passed all his physicals, so he’ll be fine that way,” McCloughan said. “He’ll get picked late. He’s competitive, he’s tough, he’s quick — all of that is positive. He’s smart.”
McCloughan said Byers’ big test was passing the physicals, but another major plus is the versatility Byers has, having started at guard and center for the Trojans.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Byers was among the leaders at his position by putting up 33 reps in the bench press (250 pounds).
http://www.reporterherald.com/Sports-Story.asp?ID=27773
By Mike Brohard
Loveland Reporter-Herald
As a senior in 2004, Jeff Byers could do no wrong.
All he heard while finishing out his time at Loveland High School was how great he was. He was tabbed the top prospect in the nation and was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, a rare honor for an offensive lineman.
Flash forward six years, and the conversations are much different. Thus is the difference in being recruited by college coaches who will do anything to have you on campus and trying to prove yourself to NFL scouts who act as if they could take you or leave you.
Which, in reality, they can, as the NFL Draft becomes a prime-time, three-day affair this year, starting Thursday (5:30 p.m.; ESPN-27).
“In college, everybody wants to make you feel good,” Byers said. “They want you to come there; they’re going to tell you what you want. When the NFL comes knocking, it’s all business. They want to know all your dirty little secrets. They want to know why you messed up here, why you did what you did here, what your thought process was. ...
“They don’t care what you think of them.”
It has been a long road for Byers — longer than most — but a beneficial one, too.
He signed at Southern California, where he helped the Trojans win a national championship. He finished as a third-team Associated Press All-American.
On the flip side, two injuries (hip and back) in 2005-06 slowed him down, but he found a silver lining.
Byers used the extra class time (he was granted a medical hardship year by the NCAA) to earn an MBA to go along with his undergraduate degree in business administration with an emphasis in management consulting and strategic management.
Obviously, Byers has options, but he’d like to use those skills to enhance his NFL experience instead.
“I do not want to solely use my backup plan, but there’s no question I’m going to use my MBA while I’m playing, as long as I’m playing, because there’s a lot of things I’ve learned,” he said. “There’s a couple of goals I have. I want to start a non-profit or something, and be able to do that. All my business skills I’ve learned will definitely help me invest some of my own money and managing my own life so I don’t have to pay somebody to do things for me.”
As much as he’s anticipated this week, he’s not about to stress out about it. Former teammates have told him the worst thing to do is to wait around and, well, wait.
Byers won’t be near a television through the process.
Instead, he’ll join the family for an annual trip out to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, a major college track meet at the school Byers’ father, Al, attended.
Besides, his cell phone will ring as loudly in the stands as it will in the family living room.
“The body of work I’ve laid out over my life as a young man, that’s what they’re evaluating, and what they think of me is where I’ll go,” he said. “I feel like I’ve done the best I possibly could do.
“I’m happy with where I’m at, and I’d just like to have the opportunity to play somewhere and make a team. That’s all you can ask for.”
All it takes is for one team to be interested to get that shot. Dave McCloughan, the director of college scouting for the San Francisco 49ers — and somebody who has seen Byers from his prep days — has no doubts that team is out there.
“He passed all his physicals, so he’ll be fine that way,” McCloughan said. “He’ll get picked late. He’s competitive, he’s tough, he’s quick — all of that is positive. He’s smart.”
McCloughan said Byers’ big test was passing the physicals, but another major plus is the versatility Byers has, having started at guard and center for the Trojans.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Byers was among the leaders at his position by putting up 33 reps in the bench press (250 pounds).
DAL @ GB
