The Long Shot pt 3

We’re back with another blog entry from former University of Louisville wide receiver Scott Long as he awaits the NFL draft. For the past couple of weeks the North Carolina native has been hard at work ensuring that he has work this upcoming NFL season.

Countless interviews, endless workouts and hours of film study has consumed almost every free moment he has. Add a certain pesky blogger bugging him about diary updates every week and you can imagine how frantic his schedule has become.

Still he somehow managed to find time to drop by the Main Event Studio last weekend to answer questions ranging from 40-yard times, coach Kragthorpe and when to refer to yourself in third person (you had to tune in to understand). For those in the studio who Long had never met, he made a remarkable first impression with his humor, fervent beliefs and humility.  But we're not the ones drafting players so impressing us doesn't go as far as saaay impressing an NFL coach or scout.  Luckily Scott has no problem making great impressions on those people as well.

Board Work
By Scott Long as told to Travis Williams

Cool story from this week.

I was watching film with a position coach from an NFL team and going through different plays. All of a sudden the coach gets up and draws two of his team’s plays on the board. He explains them real fast and then erases them.

Then he calls me up and says, "Aright, draw up that first play and teach it back to me."

He had me sweating bullets a lil bit but I was able to explain it back to him and focus on all the details. He ended up impressed on how quickly I picked it up. Then he asked who the receivers would be on the play. I pointed out where the team's number one receiver would be and wrote his name and number there.  Then I pointed to where the number two reciever would line up and wrote "Scott Long #84" and told him that's where I would be. He thought it was pretty funny but said he liked my confidence.

Study Habits

I’ve been watching some of Randy Moss on film. He’s such a smart receiver. Everyone knows he’s just a beast as far as making plays, but the way he sets guys up and beats guys with being a technician. It’s the same thing a lot of NFL coaches were giving me advice on. I really like watching tape on him. Also, I've been watching Brandon Marshall from the Denver Broncos. He does a lot of things that I respect as a player. Uses his body extremely well to create separation. And he’s very elusive after the catch. That’s something I want to work on and incorporate in my game.

Pro Day

Pro-Day was Tuesday (March 23rd) and there weren’t a lot of scouts there. Probably the lowest amount I’ve seen since I’ve been at UofL. Probably between 10-15 total. But I look at it like the teams that like me, like me. The teams that don’t, weren’t there to think otherwise. My thing is that you only need one team to like, you can’t play for all 32 teams and hopefully there’s one team out there that really likes me.

Overall I feel like I did well at pro day, I caught everything that came to me, I ran fluid routes. But I lacked that burst I usually have because my hamstring was a little sore. Nothing major. I said in an earlier post that there will always be storms in your life. Well my sore hamstring is no where close to a full blown storm. More like a light drizzle of rain on a sunny day. So I’m not worried about that at all.

I’ve got another workout coming up this week with a team that I’d definitely love to play for (NFL scouts make a point to inform prospects not to disclose their team‘s identity when discussing workouts. If you ask Scott nicely though he may tell you the division but that‘s about it). They’ve had some offense success over the years but I think it would be a really good look if I’m able to impress the guys that will be there.

In Closing

What if I told you that no matter what happend to you, I knew a way to make it turn around and work in your favor? You know the old saying, when life gives you lemons then make lemonade. How comforting would it be to know that when faced with a crummy situation the outcome will be one that best benefits you? There would be no reason to stress, nothing to worry about.

In the book of Romans this awesome thought is actually given to us in reality. Chapter 8 verse 28 reads, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him." Regardless the wrench that life throws your way, that set back, or heartache that you may be experiencing. God will make it all work out in your favor. Now that's some sweet tasting lemonade! Have a blessed week.

Yours truely, 84

The Long Shot pt 2

By Scott Long as told to Travis Williams
March 19, 2010

This is the second entry for the Scott Long diary. Scott has been sharing his daily activities with the Main Event Sports crew as he awaits this year’s NFL draft. He’s predicted to be a sixth to seventh round pick by most draft experts.But his impressive combine performance may have bump him slightly higher. Either way, the North Carolina native will be in an NFL uniform this season somewhere.
One can only guess as to how much Long will impact the NFL or what caliber of player he’ll become by looking at his game film.


Everything from the college level or even the combine doesn’t always translate to The League.

But solid beliefs, hard work and a strong support system goes a long way in any area of life. Luckily Long has all of those. So trust me when I say that if Long gets drafted or makes the league through free agency, he’s gonna be ok.

Charity Work

My agency put on an annual charity event for the United Way this past weekend. We (myself and some of his other clients) did an appearance, auctioned off some things and put on a fundamental skills camp for kids. All the proceeds went to charity so it was a pretty cool thing. Just seeing the smiles on the kid’s faces was a great feeling. I remember being a young kid looking up to NFL players so I can only imagine how fun it was for them to be around those guys.

(Charity) is something that’s right up my alley. I wanted to get going on that as soon as possible. I’ve actually got some plans, once I get established, to do an annual kids camp that would be half football and half
worship and praise or like a bible study deal.
 
It's a Business
 

I got to talk to a guy who recently signed with the Patriots and had been in the league for awhile.  He really opened my eyes to how much of a business the NFL is.  He gave me some insight on the new collective bargaining agreement and how I should really save my money that first year with the potential lockout.  You hear about the horror stories of players blowing their money but I only imagined it being people who didn't play anymore.  I mean the minimum salary in the NFL is more than the majority of paying jobs in the United States.  I couldn't imagine someone being employed in the NFL and struggling with money.
 
And some of the examples he gave were guys that are currently playing in the league that have no money when the season is over. 

That just blew my mind!

I come from a small farm town in Winnabow North Carolina. I don't come from money so I'm not a big spender. I'm not a tennis show guy or a jewerly guy and don't wear designer clothes.  I've got the same car I had when I first got my license and it's on its last leg now.  I'm just an average dude so I think I'll make the transition well as far as managing my money. 
 
Workouts

I've gotten a couple more calls (from teams), people with heavy interest are coming in to do private workouts.  A receiver coach wants to come in and do an hour meeting with me after my pro-day.  (Fomer UofL quarterback Bill Ashburn will be throwing to me, I work four days a week at the Tragher Center with him on getting our timing down so we'll be ready.
 
In Closing
 
Hopefully nobody else forgot to move their clocks an hour ahead this past weekend. While driving to the stadium, late for my workout earlier this week, I thought about how great spring is. March madness is here, football is around the corner and we can finally look forward to some good weather. Spring to me symbolizes a new beginning, the growth of all things new. This same idea can be applied to life.
 
Too often we are held captive by our past. The only way to shake free from those things is to put your best foot in front of you and "spring" forward without looking back. Philippians 3:14 reads," I press on toward the goal to win the prize, for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
 
Keep your eyes fixed on what lies ahead, God doesn't keep a record of the wrongs in your past, so why should you?


Yours truely, 84

The Long Shot

By Scott Long as told to TravisWilliams

First off the Main Event Sports crew would like to welcome everyone who has stumbled across our blog site.  Whether by luck, by way of Facebook, Twitter or sheer boredom at work. 

Welcome.

This particular post is the first of several entries in what will be a completely open and candid glimpse into the life of an extraordinary 23 year old with a dream. A dream that only a handful of lucky individuals get to see come to fruition each year. It’s a dream that this young man will refuse to have deferred for absolutely no reason outside of his own free will.

Or God’s.

And if it is indeed God’s will for him to choose another path, then he’s perfectly fine with that.

Meet Scott Long. Former University of Louisville wide receiver. Current National Football League hopeful. Long has graciously agreed to let the Main Event Sports blogger Travis Williams follow him as he chases his dream of playing on Sundays in the NFL.

We'll let Scott take it from here.

Invitation Only

Until I actually heard that I was invited to the (NFL) combine, there was still some doubt (that I‘d be invited). I knew around January 3rd that those invitations had gone out. And I hadn’t gotten anything. I was checking my mail everyday, I was checking my email everyday and I hadn't got ANYTHING. Man it didn’t look good. Finally one day my agent called me up and was like, “Congratulations you’ve been invited to the 2010 combine.”I had to pause for a minute and told him, dude don’t play with me! It was just an extremely joyful moment and I gave all praises to God.

Arriving at the Combine

I remember getting to the registration desk at Lucas Oil Stadium and seeing all the big shot names, you know the guys you see on ESPN everyday. There were tons of scouts, tons of coaches, it was kind of an overwhelming moment to be honest with you.
I was kind of just a regular guy there. A nobody almost. Guys were looking at my name tag like, ‘Who are you?’ All the other players were mingling, talking about great plays they had, media was following them, the NFL network was doing stuff with some of them. I had to just kind of step back and soak it all in. It was like an out of body experience. But once that (feeling) subsided, I got my feet back on the ground and it was time to compete. Everybody had to bring their "A" game cause I brought mine.

Impressing Superman at the Combine

I’m a guy that does a lot of research. (When I was training for this) I looked on the computer and saw what other guys were doing.  I found the combine results from last year, so I wrote down all the top three performers in every wide receiver drill from last year. I compared my numbers to those while doing my training and my numbers stacked up to theirs. When I started hitting some of those numbers during the combine it was a great feeling.

When I got done running the three cone drill Tim Tebow was so excited, he ran up to me and said, “dude you just broke the combine record!” And just to see that kind of reaction from people, I felt I was now making a name for myself. I went into that thing in almost obscurity and now I’m creating a buzz so that was satisfying. By the time I left there I had a lot more people talking to me and wanting to keep in touch.

After the Combine

I’ve gotten a bunch of calls from the media, coaches, scouts and invites for personal workouts. My agent’s phone has been blowing up. Its been a true blessing.
I’ve got three workouts planned now, some coaches wanna come in and see my conditioning and how I respond to NFL coaching. Can’t say what teams I’m working out for but you can look online and get a pretty good idea. 

In Closing

Let me close with a final thought. In life I've come to learn that adversities will always come and go. My grandfather used to say that in life you can find yourself in one of three stages. You're either headed into a storm, in the midst of a storm, or on your way out of a storm.

Either way a storm is inevitable.

The key is knowing that there is something stronger and mightier than any situation or "storm" this life has to offer.

Jeremiah 31:32 reads, "for I am the Lord, God of all flesh, is anything too hard for me?" The creator of the universe has power over all things, next time you're in one of life's "storms," try God and see what happens.

Have a blessed and encouraged week.
Yours truely, 84