Mitchell Paige Says Pro Day Performance Was All He Had
Mitchell Paige's Pro Day preparation included, but was not limited to, playing "Guitar Hero," "Rocket League" and "Ghost Recon" while living with his father in Indianapolis the last three months.
That's life as a post-graduate receiver looking for a home in the NFL.
"I wish I had more of a fun story or something," Paige said, "but that was literally it."
Paige, a former walk-on at Indiana, has an uphill battle as he makes an attempt to land on an NFL roster. He knows the market for 5-foot-7, 176-pound slot receivers isn't exactly booming.
But that won't slow Paige down much. The Carmel, Indiana, native joined IU's football program as a walk-on in 2012 and spent the next three years grinding behind the scenes before exploding onto the scene as a redshirt junior and earning a scholarship the rest of the way to graduation.
"I've been here before," Paige said. "Now it's obviously a different step, but there's a lot more guys earlier than I had to beat out. We'll see. I'm just going to do the best I can."
Paige recorded 17 repetitions on the bench press, recorded a vertical leap of 31.5 inches, managed a broad jump of nine feet and two inches, clocked in at a 4.57-second 40-yard dash, got timed in at 6.77 seconds in the three-cone drill and completed the 60-yard shuttle in 11.19 seconds.
Although his broad jump mark was the best of his life, Paige said he knows nothing about him physically jumps off the charts. It never really has.
But at the end of the day, Paige said he was proud of how he did regardless of what the measurements were.
"That's as well as I can do," he said. "I don't know what any of the times are. I don't know what happened really with clocks and what the scouts thought, but personally I can live with how I did today. That's as well as I'm going to do."
Paige was accompanied by a noticeable fan section hanging out at John Mellencamp Pavilion that extended well beyond the teammates and coaches present to root Paige and the other participants on.
Paige admitted he felt plenty of pressure walking into the facility when he saw all of the various drills and bleachers set up. Having family and friends there made it easier, he said, but the mental hurdles were tougher to manage.
"Most guys would say physical, but I'm really hard on myself," Paige said. "I want to be the best at everything, so this is a big mental day. I'm not a track star. Whatever I'm doing, (I need to) just let myself do it. That's the best I can do and not panic because I didn't run like John Ross."
Paige caught 115 passes for 1,330 yards and 10 touchdowns between his last two seasons and also returned punts regularly and occasionally held for field goals. During practices, Paige said he'd return kicks, field kicks and do basically anything he could.
During individual workouts, Paige mostly went through receiver drills but also joined Devine Redding in doing running back work. That's reflective of what he said he'll picture himself doing in an NFL camp down the road.
"Whatever they need me to do or want me to do to give me a chance, that's what I'm going to do," Paige said.
Paige doesn't appear on any NFL Draft radars, which means he'll likely only make an NFL roster by going through the undrafted free agent process. That's the path former Hoosier slot receiver Shane Wynn went down, and that's worked out for him.
He currently holds a spot on the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad.
Paige just wants an opportunity. He doesn't care where it is or when it comes.
"Once I get on the field and get a chance, it's back to square one like I was here being a guy that's got a lot of work to do," Paige said. "I'm excited for it. The next couple of months, whatever happens, I'm going to be ready."
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