March 24, 2008
Lamoni, IA-March 25th is a day that three Graceland football players have had marked on their calender for a while. That was the day that seniors Roche Hepburn (Orlando, FL), Milton Thomas (Gardena, CA), and junior Jerome Messam (York, Ont) would have the opportunity to showcase their talents to fourteen NFL teams. From storied programs such as the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers to the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants Graceland would be teaming with pro scouts Tuesday morning.
The day would be full of testing both mental and physical for the players. It began with the NFL's infamous wonderlic test. A written exam which consists of 50 questions to be answered over a 12 minute period showing aptitude and ability to solve problems. Following the written exam, the Jackets were subjected to a variety of physical examinations from vertical leap, stand and jump, and bench press, to the 40 yard dash and shuttle run.
"This is an incredible opportunity for our program and these athletes to showcase their talents and the type of players we recruit and develop to these NFL scouts," Coach Welch said during the day. "It's most of these players dream to be able to have an opportunity to play at the next level and these three young men are getting an opportunity to prove themselves. All three athletes did very well today and seemed to impress the scouts. Jerome especially raised some eyebrows. Of the fourteen teams that were represented here today, six seemed to have a legitimate interest in him," Welch concluded.
Junior running back Jerome Messam also commented on the day and the opportunity that was presented to him saying, "To have this chance today was something I've dreamed of for a long time. I felt I performed well in everything today but the 40, and the conditions were far from great for that. I feel blessed to even be in a postition to work out for these scouts and hopefully I have the chance to get drafted and make an NFL team. If I do, I will definitely make the most of it," Messam concluded.
Only time will tell for these athletes as they now will wait for the 2008 NFL draft April 26-28. Stay tuned to the Graceland athletics website for more info on their progress and updates on any happenings.
For More Information on Graceland University Athletics Contact: Matt Shelton, Sports Information Director (641) 784-5318 mshelton@graceland.edu
