INDIANAPOLIS − The NFL combine is supposed to feel overwhelming. Players know they’ve arrived at a pivotal moment in their careers.
However, for a number of former Michigan football standouts − the Wolverines set a new NFL combine record with 18 invitees to this year’s event − after having put their heads down to train for the event for more than a month, there is a bit of familiar in the unfamiliar.
“It feels like Schembechler Hall around here,” edge rusher Braiden McGregor joked Wednesday morning. “Everywhere I look, I mean to my right I got Jaylen (Harrell), I see Mike (Barrett) all the time. I think the o-line gets in today, saw AJ (Barner) earlier. I mean everybody. Been training for what, four or five weeks? To see them again, it’s awesome.”
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Braiden McGregor on Feb. 28, 2024 at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.
McGregor and Harrell, standing at adjacent podiums, were up first Wednesday morning, two of five Wolverines scheduled on the defensive line and linebackers day, followed by Junior Colson, Mike Barrett and Kris Jenkins.
Of course, it’s not just the numbers of former maize and blue players on hand, but the location of where it’s all happening. Indianapolis has played host to the event since it moved to the Hoosier Dome in 1987, and has also been home to the Big Ten’s championship football game since the league split into two divisions in 2011.
While Michigan was unable to make the Big Ten title game in any of its first 10 years, it has since made up for it with a run of dominance no other team in the league has seen. U-M went 40-3 across the past three seasons, winning the Big Ten championship each season in Lucas Oil Stadium.
“Bro yeah, it feels like home,” laughed Harrell. “I’ve been here three times. Walk…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/18-former-michigan-football-players-174708980.html
Author : Detroit Free Press
Publish date : 2024-02-28 17:47:08
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