By John Shinn
NORMAN — J.D. Runnels accomplished a lot over his four seasons at Oklahoma. He was a dominant player that became a stalwart of Sooner teams that won two Big 12 championships and played for two national championships.
Over that 53-game span, he earned a reputation as one of the best fullbacks in college football.
“He’s a great player,” OU coach Bob Stoops said, repeating a statement he’s made endlessly about Runnels.
When his collegiate career ended, he had but one goal left.
“I wanted to be the first fullback taken on the first day of the NFL Draft,” he said.
And that dream was in a do-or-die situation Wednesday morning.
OU was hosting its annual Pro Day and scouts from around the NFL were convened at the Everest Indoor Training Center to take one final look at the draft-eligible Sooners.
“It’s the last 10 percent of the puzzle we’re trying to identify,” Seattle Seahawks scout John Peterson said. “The grades are in, the opinions have been made and all the research is done. What we need to see is how a player stacks up with others at his position.”
Players like defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek, defensive back Chijioke Onyenegecha, wide receiver Travis Wilson, linebacker Clint Ingram and offensive linemen Chris Chester and Davin Joseph and showed their skills at the NFL Combine and the Senior Bowl.
Those week-long events give NFL teams a chance to size a player’s ability and just about any player deemed draft-worthy receives an invitation.
Surprisingly, Runnels wasn’t one of them. And he was shocked.
“You come to a place like Oklahoma and you think if you play here for four years and if you do as well as I did, you think things like the Combine and the Senior Bowl will come around,” he said. “When they don’t, you realize life will go on and that you will get your time and you have to be ready when your time comes.”
Wednesday was that time. It was the only chance Runnels had to get on the draft radar.
He spent two months working with a trainer in Arizona with every workout geared to make as good a showing as possible Wednesday.
“I did everything I could to get myself into the best shape, to be as quick as I could, as strong as I could and as fast as I could,” Runnels said. “I had to be everything on the same day.”
Scouts who thought Runnels was too small saw him weigh in at 238 pounds. Those who thought he was too slow looked at their stop watches when he ran a 4.58 40-yard dash. Anyone who believed he wasn’t strong enough got a good look at him bench press 225 pounds 28 times.
“He had an excellent workout today and certainly opened some people’s eyes,” Peterson said.
Where the workout takes Runnels remains to be seen. After showing what he could do on the field, scouts spent a couple of hours visiting with him.
Clearly, Runnels had made the impression he was hoping for.
And the grin he was sporting by the afternoon said it all.
“My time came today, and I was ready,” he said. “I was more than ready.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
