Blue White Illustrated

r R E P O R T WORKING VACATION Former Lion John Urschel relishes his chance to audition for the pros N F L D R A F T | A lot has been said and written about John Urschel the past few years, and the world knows what distinguishes the former Penn State o;ensive lineman from many of his peers. Urschel was named the recipient of the 2013 William V. Campbell Trophy, which is awarded annually to the nation's premier college football student-athlete. He is a two-time :rst-team All-Big Ten honoree and an Associated Press third- team All-American, and those honors barely hint at his rare combination of intelligence and football prowess. So it should come as no surprise that Urschel's de:nition of a vacation would be so unique and radically di;erent from that of not only his peers, but also most of society. "Right now, I'm loving where I'm at. I'm at this special place in my life that I've never been before where it's almost surreal," he said. "My entire day is de- voted to football. My… entire… day." In the midst of a months-long prepa- ration process leading up to the NFL Dra< in May, the 6-foot-3, 313-pound o;ensive lineman now :nds himself in unfamiliar territory. He is largely dis- connected from the world of elite-level mathematics where he made a name for himself at Penn State even before he be- gan making a real impact on the :eld. To recap: Earning his undergraduate degree in only three years with a 4.0 grade-point average, Urschel added a master's degree to his resume just one year later, and :nally :nished with work toward a second master's during the 2013 football season, his last as a Nittany Lion. This while also teaching high-level math courses. It's not that Urschel has turned his back on academia. But having decided before the start of the 2013 season to pursue a career at football's highest level, the Bu;alo, N.Y., native is thrilled by the opportunity he sees on the hori- zon. "I'm about to embark on a very long- term vacation," he said. "Honestly, that's how I feel. Listen, I'm just doing what I love every single day. It's awesome. I get to wake up, go to the gym, work out, li< some weights, run around, maybe push some sleds, do some snaps, do some MMA work – which I also love, by the way; I used to do kickboxing in high school – and it's great. "I'm so excited for the dra< and being with a team. Just the idea that my job is going to be to play football all day is amazing to me." Looking to improve his lateral speed while re:ning his technique, Urschel spent most of the winter in San Diego, where he trained extensively with Hud- son Houck, a highly respected former NFL o;ensive line coach. As part of his preparation, he focused on his diet and managed to maintain his playing weight while exchanging fat for muscle. By the time he checked in for the litany of med- ical tests at the NFL Combine in Indi- anapolis last month, Urschel's body fat was down to 13.8 percent. He also graded out well on the :lm of his senior season and produced solid numbers on the bench press (30 reps at 225 pounds), 20-yard shuttle (4.47 sec- onds), three-cone drill (7.55 seconds) and vertical leap (29 inches), all of which placed him among the top 10 o;ensive linemen in each category. Said Urschel, "For o;ensive linemen, the combine numbers do matter, but the biggest thing is just your :lm, how you move and things of that sort. "Scouts liked what they saw [of my :lm]. The thing that I heard is that my best asset is that I stick on guys. That's something I de:nitely agree with, and honestly, that's my style of play. My style of play is just to straight-up outwork my opponent. Stay on him and out-will him and stay on my block all the way through the whistle to the :nish. "They had questions for me about my explosiveness o; the ball, which is tough to gauge, just because of the system we ran and the technique we were using at Penn State. You don't really have that exploding-o;-the-ball feel." Urschel will have an opportunity to improve on his 5.31-second time in the 40-yard dash when he takes part in pri- vate individual workouts with teams this spring. He also has prepared diligently for the possibility that NFL teams may be interested in giving him a tryout at center. Add Penn State's pro day at Hol- uba Hall on April 8 into the equation, and Urschel is con:dent he will be able to assuage any doubts. Besides, as he has demonstrated re- peatedly both on and o; the :eld, he isn't fazed by the challenge of having to prove himself against top competition. It's practically a vacation. ■

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