Senior Bowl players "weigh in" Monday

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Stripped to their skivvies, one by one, NFL hopefuls are examined in front of hundreds.

“It’s just another thing along the way to get to play in front of thousands on Sundays,” said Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith.

It’s the National Scouting Weigh-In. Rick Reiprish of the New Orleans Saints and other scouting directors take note of every inch and every pound, assessing whether the athletes will be a fit on their team.

But Reiprish and others like him aren’t the only ones who need to be at the top of their game.

For the Senior Bowl players, this is a business trip.

“That’s the only way to approach it,” Smith said. “You always have to put your best foot forward, even when you’re not in a football activity, just when you’re going from room to room, going back to your hotel room, when you’re getting something to eat. You got to always show who you are and what you’re about.”

It may be “business,” but Smith said his teammates on the North squad like to have fun.

“They actually had to come back and tell us to quiet down a little bit,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of guys, like, we were kind of joking about doing push-ups and pull-ups and trying to stretch us out to make us look taller. So, there’s just a lot of jokes going on.”

Smith brought that same energy to the practice field Monday at Ladd.

Quite the talent at quarterback for the North team, as Boise State’s Kellen Moore and Russell Wilson of Wisconsin both vie for the position.

“It’s a very neat experience,” Moore said. “Personally, with the quarterbacks working with Russell [Wilson] and Kirk [Cousins], those are great guys that you watched all year. Playing big games, and now we get to share a week together working and getting
better.”

“After my dad passed away I really realized how much everything is a blessing and have another opportunity to do things, and it’s truly a great experience for me, I’m glad I’m out here doing it, and I can’t wait to get out here tomorrow,” Wilson said.