Austin Allen shows off at NFL combine

The NFL combine was something unlike anything Austin Allen has been through in his athletic lifetime. 
Yet, for the Aurora native, it was just another step to reaching the ultimate goal. 
Oz was one of several hundred players invited to last week’s 2022 NFL Scouting Combine, a place where college football players show off their skills, on and off the field for NFL teams. 
Austin, now back in Lincoln after spending the winter months working out in Florida, said in a phone interview he believed his efforts on and off the field were satisfactory. 
One thing he underestimated, though, was the mental test of the event. 
“The mental aspect was crazy. They keep you up late at night with a tight schedule right back at it early the next day,” he said. “It was only four to five hours of sleep a night. It was hard to get meals, too. You’re hungry, tired and you’re being tested on how you act and respond.”
All of the on-field workout testing was scheduled for the same day, from the 40-yard dash to the bench press. 
Because of the tight schedule, Oz elected to skip the bench press workout at the combine and will do that at Nebraska’s pro day, along with a slew of other workouts, set for March 22. 
He did well in those workouts posting elite-level explosiveness and quick movements for such a large frame.
Oz posted a 40-yard dash time of 4.83, but his 20-yard shuttle was 4.26, ranking second among tight ends. His three-cone drill time was 7.00 seconds, the best at his position while his broad jump was 10-01, third best at TE while adding a 34-inch vertical. 
“I’m satisfied with what I put out there,” Oz said. “At the end of the day, people see my height, weight and how well I move. That will open eyes, but I didn’t do anything on the field that would hurt me.”
The on-field tests were sort of a final hurdle for Austin. Scouts wanted to see how well he can move. Based on the results, pretty well. 
The tests weren’t just how fast you can run or how much weight you can move. Oz talked about the flexibility tests, too, bending in ways the body really shouldn’t, to see how he moves. 
“There was this full examination, moving your limbs in ways you didn’t know were possible just to see if it hurts,” he described. “If it hurts, that’s when teams throw up a red flag. 
“There were these other tests, marking your body with a marker, measuring things, pinching you for fat density.”
What Austin described next would be quite familiar to a livestock salesman at the county fair auction. 
A stage with all the scouts huddled around is set up for each player to come through, down to only the compression shorts, taking measurements, weight and monitoring movements. 
“They want to see who will fold under all the different types of pressure,” Austin said. 
The Aurora product measured in just above 6-foot-8 and 253 pounds. His arms measured 33-5/8 and his hands at 9-1/2. 
Oz mentioned that he met with most of the 32 NFL teams during his time at the combine, going through different types of interviews in what he called an entirely different type of test. 
Every team had its own interview process, keeping the players on their toes for what may come next. 
Austin explained there were some teams who showed him two NFL-style plays at the beginning of the interview, spending the next 15 minutes asking more typical interview questions and finishing by asking the players to draw up those same two plays from memory at the start of the process. 
“They wanted everything, right down to the terminology,” Oz said. “It was a test of how well you’re locked in.”
Other teams handed out a test to players and while asking interview questions, he had to fill those out. Two tests at the same time, essentially. 
“The note card would say something like, ‘it takes 5 machines five minutes to make five wheels. How long does it take to make 100 wheels?’” Austin recalled. “You have to do the math while you’re answering questions about what worked at Nebraska versus a certain coverage. It was a big mental gymnastics.”
The most challenging part of the entire process came down to taking physicals and what came with that. In other words, another mental test of “hurry up and wait.”
“If any team wants to do an MRI or x-ray on you, you have to do it,” he explained. “I had to get three MRIs and 10 x-rays on things I’ve had surgeries on over the years.”
Oz has had injuries during his playing career to his shoulder, chest and knees. All of that was gone over with a fine-tooth comb at the combine. 
It was a waiting game with Austin and all of the other players, sitting in a window-less room waiting for your name to be called. 
Oz spent seven hours in that room waiting for his name to come up, “tight end one.”
They ended up taking him to another hospital because of how backed up everything became. 
Once he got to the next hospital, he waited another hour before getting in to do his medical tests. 
“It didn’t get easier because I had to sit there and not move for my MRI for three hours,” Oz added. “It was a grind and a big mental test.”
Oz has spent the past few months getting away from the Nebraska chill and working out under the bright sunshine and sandy beaches of Florida. 
He bragged about the temperature never dropping below 70 degrees, playing golf and having some free time on the beach. 
But, the main reason was to train, and do so at an NFL level, something he said has been a big help. 
Not only that, but he competed alongside some of college football’s best at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl at the Rose Bowl in California at the end of January. 
In a game like the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, the event is fun for the fans and even the players to be in, but it’s the practices that NFL scouts are watching, and that’s where Oz shined. 
Austin made some waves on Twitter with a couple incredible pass receptions, showing his athletic ability and soft hands while also displaying his blocking ability, something he thought went really well.
“It was a good experience for me to go against some top talent in an all-star atmosphere,” he said. “It was nice to see Nebraska and the Big Ten prepared me really well.”
It was during that week of practice for the all-star game that Oz earned his invite to the NFL combine and has no regrets on how everything went. 
“It allowed me to show that no matter what they put me through, I have a positive attitude and will give it my all.”
RICHARD RHODEN can be reached at sports@hamilton.net.