Waiting

First an foremost I want to congratulate my teammates Chad Kilgore (LB- Packers)  and David Mosely ( WR-Bears) on their NFL mini camp initiations.  Both have worked extremely hard for their opportunities and I wish them the best of luck!

I am currently still training in Arizona waiting for my opportunity.  Teams still have doubt in my ankle recovery which I understand. My goal is to keep fine tuning my my speed, body, and craft so that when my time comes I don't leave any doubt. 

Also, Pro Edge training buddy Dan Knapp signed with the Oakland Raiders.  Couldn't be happier for him.  He came to Pro Edge not even a pro prospect at 276lbs (way to small for NFL OL) and is now fending off calls daily for teams wanting to sign him as he now weighs 306 lbs an just an overall animal in the weight room.

---I'll keep everyone posted if anything happens

The Week I've been Waiting For...

Things are either going to start happening really fast or not at all.  This Thursday, Friday, & Saturday the NFL Draft is taking place.  I'm not overly concerned about the draft (getting drafted) in general but the days following the draft.  That's when the free agent calls start coming out and that's what I'm particularly waiting on.  My agent tells me that I have about four teams seriously interested in bringing me to a camp but if I've learned anything so in this business, its that you don't believe anything until it happens.  Just the nature of the business, nothing personal.  I'm also told that by Tuesday at the very latest I'll know whether a team is going to pick me up or not.  This is were things start to happen fast. If I were to get a call on Tuesday for example, I would more than likely be flying out Wednesday morning to the team facility.

Although I'm not planning on getting drafted I get to take part in some of the draft festivities.  I got invited to Dan and Brock's draft party.  Brock has a possibility of getting drafted Thursday as late first rounder and then my friend Dan Knapp, has raised his stock and now has the possibility of getting drafted at some point as well.  So all around its going to be an exciting weekend. Surprisingly I'm not that nervous, don't get me wrong I'm anxious but glad to say I'm enjoying to process and this is just one more step along the way...with several left to take!


" don't know what my future holds, but I know who holds it.."
                                                                          
                                                                         -Tim Tebow

One Crazy Night

Tommie Harris- DL for
 Chargers (former Bear)

I don’t know where to begin but here we go. Saturday night Derek ( aka DK) had a party at his house for the UFC fight Jones v. Evans.  So, he had some friends over and most of them I had met before but a few new.  Total there were about twenty people or so there and a lot of DK’s friends are football players or college buddies so among the crowd there was Jeremy Bridges, Lance Briggs and he brought friend and former teammate Tommie Harris over. So, we watched the fight and afterwards played Catch Phrase, (surprisingly this was the first time they had heard of it) which lately has been the game of choice at his house and usually gets pretty heated.  All the wives were there so we did a battle of the sexes with the exception of Tommie on the girls team.  Girls won blah blah but anyways, afterward all the guys were talking about going to “The W”, which they explained was a hotel bar that was pretty fancy and Larry Fitzgerald was having his after party for his Celebrity Softball Tournament – First Down Fund.   So, immediately I’m thinking I have to go to this! Long story short I ended up being the DD for Jeremy, his wife, and another couple. 

Big Jeremy Bridges OL Cardinals

No pressure or anything but driving his (wife’s) 2012, 700 series BMW, was similar to driving a NASA Space ship!  Took me about 5 minutes just to figure out how to change the gears and put it in reverse! Anyways, we arrived at what felt like something out of the movies.  We drive to valet and there’s all these suped up Lamborghinis, limited edition, and special edition “this and that” parked at the curb.  Walk right up in shorts, a V-neck, and tennis shoes which didn’t exactly meet the dress code but all was well as we were able to walk up and get right in. We get in and then walk up to VIP section/ floor where we had a table and met up with Lance, his girl, and Tommie.  At that point we were literally hanging out probably 3-4 feet from Larry Fitz and it was kind of surreal for the first 10-20 minutes.  I took the time to just look around and see all the stars in attendance such as TO, DeSean Jackson, Donavan McNabb, (Yes I’m name dropping but just so you get a better feel )Kurt Warner, Gary Payton, few Suns players and the list goes on but the weirdest part is that they're just regular people socializing.  We always tend to put these big time athletes on such a pedestal and we refuse to believe there just like you and me; so it was cool to see them in their own environment off the field.  I did eventually get introduced to Larry, who if you didn’t know is my favorite NFL WR I try to model on the field—excellent ball control and hands. He doesn’t ever say much on the field but works his a**off and puts everything on the field.    Of course by this point my phone was dead, and couldn’t get a picture with him  which wasn’t the end of the world but because it was his party he literally didn’t have more than seconds before he wasn’t signing something, taking a picture, or talking to someone so I appreciated the brief time he gave me.  Overall it was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget.

Sidenote: if you remember from my earlier blog about going out with Brock and having a body guard, I ran into him again last night.  Turns out he's legit (not that I doubted it ) but he was Larry's body guard for the night and remembered me when I came up an talked to him.  Small world.

DeShawn Jackson - Eagles Wr

Larry Fitzgerald- Arguably one of best WR in the game 

Friday the 13th - ProDay

Talking with Trever (Qb) & Scouts (Rams,Vikings)

I woke up to blowing winds from 17-20 mph with rain and cloudy skies.  It was looking like it was going to stay that way most of the morning.  As I got out of bed my legs felt even tighter than they had the day before but I dismissed it and told myself id loosen up and would be fine. The selected juniors and I were in the locker room by 12:30pm as instructed and were scheduled to start at 1pm.  That wasn’t the case.  The scouts were 45 minutes late, ended up talking to our coach in his office for an extended amount of time so before they even got down to meet us it was 2:45pm. It was arranged that the juniors would do their stuff and then I would go through all of mine separate after. The Juniors then had to take their tests,  fill out the paper work, get measurements,  and then run their 40’s.  All in all I waited for three and a half hours to finally start working out for the scouts.  So pretty much all the supplements and meal planning and timing for optimal success that I had done was now down the drain.  Also within this time fame, the band on my watch broke off and then my "I am Second" band snaps off, all within 10 minutes of each other. Fair to say it had been a long day up this point.   This wasn’t anyone’s fault particularly it was just an unusual proday to start with and was a first time experience for everyone involved. 

We started with the bench press.  I was aiming between 11-15 reps which anything over 10 is acceptable for a receiver.  I end up with 12 reps, I wasn’t thrilled because I know I can get more but didn’t stress about it.   Next, I did the Pro agility, L cone drill, 60 yd shuttle and then moved on to the routes.  I had to skip out on the 40yd dash, vertical, and broad jump because of the clearance provided by my doctor and the lack of preparation of both which was frustrating because the jumps are really a strong suit of mine.  But anyways I did the drills and they wouldn’t tell me my times until the end and when they did I can say I was pretty satisfied  with the results, given the short time to prep for the drills.  Later that night I called and talked to out head coach and he said scouts really liked me “he has good-average numbers but has exceptional hand/ball skills” so that was encouraging to hear.   Friday night I finally got to relax with friends and family, eat a big meal with whatever I wanted and cut loose.  Saturday morning I  headed to the airport to get back to Arizona and back to business.  It was a great trip but still have a long way to go.

Jake Soy              NWMSU                --           12     40.5 (LS)      6.95     4.13       11.32   10’5 ½ (LS)

*(LS) Last Spring Testing 2011@ NW--didnt test 40 LS due to surgury

Name	School	40-Yard Dash	Bench press	Vertical jump	Three-cone drill	20-yard shuttle	60-yard shuttle	Broad jump
Travis Benjamin	Miami	4.36	14	38.0				9'11
Jarrett Boykin	Virginia Tech	4.74	11	36.0	7.12	4.28	11.22	10'3
Danny Coale	Virginia Tech	4.50	12	35.0	6.69	4.15	11.22	9'7
Juron Criner	Arizona	4.68	17	38.0	7.15	4.30		9'9
B.J. Cunningham	Michigan State	4.59	12	31.5	7.10			9'8
Michael Floyd	Notre Dame	4.47	16	36.5				10'2
Chris Givens	Wake Forest	4.41	19	33.5	6.97	4.23		9'10
T.J. Graham	North Carolina State	4.41	8	33.5	6.77	4.18		10'0
Junior Hemingway	Michigan	4.53	21	35.5	6.59	3.98	11.16	10'4
Stephen Hill	Georgia Tech	4.36	14	39.5	6.88	4.48	11.43	11'1
Jerrell Jackson	Missouri	4.62	22	41.0	6.82	4.11	11.08	10'7
A.J. Jenkins	Illinois	4.39	12	38.5				10'4
Dwight Jones	North Carolina	4.55	14	33.0				9'1
Marvin Jones	California	4.46	22	33.0	6.81	4.11	11.47	9'4
Jermaine Kearse	Washington	4.58	14	34.0	7.03	4.12		9'11
Keshawn Martin	Michigan State	4.45	13	39.5	6.85	4.13	11.16	10'2
Rishard Matthews	Nevada	4.62	20	36.0	6.88	4.19	11.25
Marvin McNutt	Iowa	4.54		37.0	7.15	4.07	11.62	10'2
Kashif Moore	Connecticut	4.42	19	43.5	6.82	4.05		10'6
Derek Moye	Penn State	4.52	10	33.5		4.23		9'7
Chris Owusu	Stanford	4.36	19	40.5	6.85	4.11	11.22	10'9
Eric Page	Toledo	4.60	15	30.0	6.95	3.98	11.47	9'4
DeVier Posey	Ohio State	4.50	14	36.5	7.03	4.15		10'3
Brian Quick	Appalachian State	4.55	15	34.0	7.10	4.23		9'11
Rueben Randle	LSU	4.55	15	31.0	6.99	4.36	11.78	10'1
Gerell Robinson	Arizona State	4.62		35.5		4.15		9'5
James Rodgers	Oregon State	4.67	19	37.0		4.23		9'7
Mohamed Sanu	Rutgers	4.67	19	36.0	6.88	4.22		10'6
Jordan White	Western Michigan	4.69	14	35.0	6.84	4.13	11.40	9'11
Jarius Wright	Arkansas	4.42	11	38.0	6.93	4.03		10'0
Kendall Wright	Baylor	4.61		38.5	6.93	4.18		10'1

As you can see from my numbers I’m right in the mix when it comes to the numbers game of the 2012 Wr Combine Results but at the end of the day your either a football player or not….

Side Note: If you want to see my routes you can find them on YouTube. Search "Jake Soy Proday"