This just in from Todd Robinett (the guy next to Eric in the photo above):

On Sunday, March 9th, I arrived in Auburn around 12:30pm and met Eric for lunch, then spent the rest of the day relaxing with his friends and family. My focus was to make sure Eric ate a good meal, was relaxed and had plenty of rest. That night Eric and I sat down and talked briefly about his Pro Day and what needed to be done, such as what time to wake up, eat breakfast, warm-up, etc. As his coach and friend, I felt like I should give him a little pep talk, but then I realized there wasn’t anything I needed to say. In fact, I think the only thing I said was, “you know you’re ready,” followed by “it’s Showtime.” To be honest, the confidence I saw in Eric and his trust in the Lord actually helped me relax.

Throughout all of Eric’s training at All-Star Sports, he had a fire in his eyes of determination, toughness and confidence. He pushed everything to the limit, and he knew that he worked harder than anyone else in the country. One example of his hard work is an exercise he did called walking push-ups, which he did once a week at the end of an upper body weight lifting workout. The first day of lifting Eric could barely do 6 push-ups at each of the three stops he had to make (meaning he did a total of 18 push-ups through the whole exercise). I told Eric the record was 30 push-ups at each stop, making it a total of 90 push-ups, which is very tough to do after you’ve already done a whole upper body workout. In week six, Eric came up to me and said, “I’m breaking the record today T” (short for Todd), and proceeded to do 32 push-ups at each stop, for a total of 96 push-ups.

The morning of his Pro Day, we woke up and I think all that was said was, “it’s time,” followed by a look of confidence and excitement. Then we double-checked our bags to make sure we had everything. I can’t speak for Eric, but I know my stomach was twisted in a knot—I did my best to stay relaxed. On our way to the field we talked about everything but the Pro Day, in fact most of our conversation was about some fun times we had at All-Star Sports with some of the other athletes.

When we got to the field I started to get a little more excited for Eric because I knew he had been waiting a long time for this opportunity. It was finally time for him to show off all that hard work. He looked strong through all the events and I heard a lot of comments from people talking about his physical appearance. It was nice to know other people recognized his hard work in preparing for this day. I was very proud of Eric’s performance, and I know good things will happen for him in the future.

After everything was over I felt like a weight was lifted off me, which means Eric probably felt an even bigger weight lifted off his shoulders. Eric did all the work and had all the pressure on him, and he handled it like a professional. Like I told Eric, “I’m not sure why I’m so exhausted when you did all the work.” In fact, when we got back to his house, I fell asleep on the couch before I drove to the airport. The whole experience was a positive one and all of us at All-Star Sports look forward to watching Eric play on Sundays!

Below are Eric’s Pre-Test/Post-Test numbers:

• 10-yard dash — 1.71/1.55
• 20-yard dash — 2.82/2.69
• 40-yard dash — 4.94/4.56
• Short Shuttle — 4.19/4.04
• L – Drill — 7.00/6.73
• Vertical Jump — 34 inches/37 inches
• Broad Jump — 9’ 7”/10’ 3”
• 225# Bench — 6/15

Right now, Eric is continuing to train, because as soon as the draft is over he’ll probably have to go to some rookie mini camps with which ever team picks him up. Also, any team could ask Eric to workout for them before the draft, so he has to keep his conditioning up and be prepared for anything. Aside from individual workouts Eric may also have phone interviews with teams that are interested in signing him. The next four weeks could be very busy for Eric depending on the number of teams that are interested in drafting him.

To put it simply Eric is staying focused on training and waiting patiently for individual workouts or interviews with NFL teams before the draft.

Thanks for reading and rooting for Eric on NFL Draft day!