Oklahoma left tackle Orlando Brown knew he made a mess of the Scouting Combine.
But when middle-schoolers kept reminding him how bad it was, he had to unplug for a moment.
The All-American tackle hit reset after a disastrous set of workouts in Indianapolis, in which the he managed just 14 reps in the 225-pound bench press (fewest of any offensive lineman), a 5.85-second 40-yard dash (slowest at the entire event), an 82-inch broad jump (shortest at the combine by 7 inches) and a 19.5-inch vertical (shortest at the combine by 4 inches).
Brown told Jake Trotter of ESPN.com that he had to abandon Twitter because of “so many 12-year olds telling me they’re stronger than me.”
“Measurables are measurables, and that’s what the general managers and the head coaches and scouts use, and it’s understood — you can’t knock it,” Brown said. “You’ve got all these guys, they’ve run 4.9s and been successful. But you’ve also got guys that run 4.9s and been bad. I think I’m an unusual prospect, the way my film is and my unusual testing. Yeah, it’s a pretty big deficiency. But the film speaks for itself. Hopefully these NFL teams look at that and recognize who I am, . . . and understand what I can do at the next level.”
After the disappointment of his previous numbers, he could only really get better at Oklahoma’s pro day. He did a better 18 reps in the bench press, ran a 5.63 40, broad jumped 89 inches and posted a 25-inch vertical.
He was considered a possible first-rounder before the Combine, and it’s unclear if scouts will be able to overlook that after a better set of numbers at pro day. The tape is generally good, and he’s been endorsed by his quarterback. And for a 6-foot-8, 345-pound man with 35-inch arms, some of the testing isn’t the best indicator of what he’s about. But he’s also going to have to convince teams it’s not a sign of work ethic (though the fact he came to Oklahoma over 400 pounds shows some degree of work on his body).
“The combine doesn’t represent who I am,” he said. “My mentality, or anything like that.”
He better hope not, or the 12-year-olds will let him hear it.