The medical checks at the Scouting Combine are famously thorough, and long and arduous enough that they sparked enough anger in one prospect to trigger an altercation with medical staff.
But another top prospect said he was fine with what happened, so long as he made sure they only touched the top half of him.
Ohio State safety Malik Hooker had hip surgery in January, and sports hernia surgeries on both sides, so doctors had to take care with him.
“My medical checks are going real well,” Hooker said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. “I was told not to let anybody pull or tug at my leg just because the surgery was recent — six weeks out and a few days — they more so looking at my upper body.”
Hooker’s one of the highest-rated safeties in the 2017 NFL Draft, but was essentially a one-year starter for the Buckeyes, so scouts are going to have to trust a small amount of game tape. It’s good tape, as he had seven interceptions last year and returned three of them for touchdowns.
“I’m a special player, capable of doing a lot of things,” Hooker said. “The film says what it says.”
He said he suffered the initial injury Nov. 26 against Michigan and played through the season, including the national semifinal loss to Clemson.
“I didn’t really notice it until after the [Michigan] game,” Hooker said. “After the game, I couldn’t really walk. I was limping. I practiced that week, [but] I was not able to run as well. I played through it, [and] I played the Clemson game as well.”
The medical questions will be something teams have to check out later, after they weren’t able to get a full battery of results from the poking and prodding.