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Onward State Tackles NFL Pro Day Drills

What happens when four washed-up bloggers compete in drills like the 40-yard dash and the broad jump? Well, folks, you’re about to find out.

That’s right, folks. In honor of Penn State football’s Pro Day, four of our staffers set out to compete in various drills that some of the Nittany Lions’ best will do today in front of NFL scouts.

Naturally, four relatively fit college students are not as athletic as Penn State’s top NFL prospects, but we gave it our best show. Once our team was assembled, here’s exactly how it went:

40-Yard Dash

Ryan Parsons: 4.72
Sam Brungo: 5.00
Gabe Angieri: 5.27
Rory Pelella: 6.52

In our afternoon’s most highly anticipated event, Parsons absolutely stole the show with his impressive time of 4.72 seconds. After failing to even crack 5.00 seconds while training, Parsons simply kicked it into another gear when it mattered most.

Brungo didn’t just run exactly 5.00 once. He did it twice, folks. Consistency is key, and he earned himself a respectable time here.

Now, after Angieri said for weeks that he was going to run under a 4.80, he completely embarrassed himself with a 5.27. However, he did prove he’s faster than the greatest quarterback of all-time, Tom Brady, who ran a 5.28 at the 2000 NFL Combine.

Pelella fought through an injury and competed, so we’ll give her a pass for her 6.52 mark this time.

Broad Jump

Brungo: 8’2
Angieri: 8’2
Parsons: 7’9
Pelella: 4’8

Brungo, who served as our videographer for much of the day, certainly proved he’s a man of many skills. His 98-inch broad jump tied for the best score among the group.

After getting smoked by Parsons in the 40-yard dash, Angieri needed to redeem himself with the broad jump. We were expecting a lot worse, so we’ll take it.

Even though he got beat by two of us, Parsons still put up a respectable score of 7’9″. Can’t be the best at everything, right?

Pelella could’ve absolutely done better here, folks. I mean, she barely jumped!

Longest Football Throw

Brungo: 47 yards
Angieri: 45 yards
Parsons: 43 yards
Pelella: 29 yards

Brungo unleashed an absolute cannon to win his second competition of the day. Just an all-around impressive showing.

This gave Angieri some flashbacks to the time when he was the quarterback for his flag football team when he was 8 years old. Turns out, he’s still got it!

Once again, Parsons put up a respectable throw here, but it just wasn’t good enough to edge Brungo. However, he clearly “won the day” with his ridiculous 40-yard dash time.

Nothing wrong with 29 yards!

While that wraps up the “official” drills section, we also took part in the wide receiver gauntlet. Each of us ran down a line and caught three passes in stride. Luckily, all four of us went a perfect three-for-three!

Additionally, we attempted to kick a short field goal. “Attempted” is the keyword, as only Brungo was able to convert.

Throughout the rest of the day, we captured more of our experience, including many bloopers. Enjoy!

To get a deeper look at our Pro Day experience, you can watch the video below made by videographer and broad jump champion, Sam Brungo.


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About the Author

Gabe Angieri

After a four-year career with Onward State, Gabe is now a college graduate and off to the real world. He shockingly served as the blog’s managing editor during the 2022-23 school year and covered football for much of his Onward State tenure, including trips to the Outback Bowl and Rose Bowl. For any professional inquiries, please email Gabe at [email protected]. You can still see his bad sports takes on Twitter at @gabeangieri.

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