MISSOULA — Pro Day is officially in the books as former Montana Grizzlies and Frontier Conference players were on hand Friday morning at the University of Montana to test their abilities in front of professional football scouts.
Photos: Pro scouts evaluate as players compete at Griz Pro Day
Included were 11 NFL teams and one CFL team in attendance for UM's Pro Day, which featured 15 former Grizzlies and three players who competed in the Frontier Conference.
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Headlining it all was Michael Wortham, the do-all receiver and returner for Montana who made the most of his lone season with the Grizzlies and showed out with an impressive time in the 40 at 4.48 seconds, as well as a 37½ inch mark in the vertical jump.
"It's truly a blessing," Wortham said. "Each and every day I thought about kind of envisioning what today would look like. There's guys that probably don't want to see me do very good just because I'm a smaller guy, coming from a FCS school, and there's some guys that believe in me a lot and like my film. So, biggest thing is hopefully whatever I showed on film and today that I'm able to compete with the best and I'm able to keep going no matter what."
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One of the other stars of the day was cornerback Kenzel Lawler, who leaped 39½ inches in the vertical, 10 feet, 8 inches in the broad jump, and also clocked a 4.51 in the 40.
"It's honestly the unknown. You don't know what's going to happen," Lawler said. "I was just grateful to have the opportunity to be out here and just do this. It's honestly a blessing. Not that many people get the opportunity to experience this and be in front of NFL scouts and CFL scouts, so honestly I'm just grateful that I did this."
Offensive lineman Liam Brown could also be an interesting prospect at the pro level with his size and experience, and he put together a strong day, as well, in front of the scouts.
"The mindset was basically just put as much energy in as I could," Brown said. "Put it all on and just leave nothing out because I don't want to be disappointed if I gave just a tiny bit more effort. It would be a childhood dream come true. I don't think I'd take it for granted. I'd just be blessed to have the opportunity to play for one of the great teams."
Specialized drills ended the day for each position group as they got one-on-one work with the scouts.
For a guy like Kellen Detrick, the lone Montana native of the bunch from the small town of Havre, it was a dream come true to get the opportunity to showcase his skills with the possibility of a professional opportunity on the line.
"I'd say take the risk in anything that you do," Detrick said. "Take the risk and empty the tank in anything that you do. Give everything you have 100%. And if you think that you can do it, you can do it. You can do anything in this world. And I just want to put that out there to everybody, especially Montana kids. Montana has great athletes and Montana is awesome."
Now, the work is done, and the waiting officially begins, as the Grizzlies are on the clock.
