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Wynel says why not to NFL Draft

BY Kevin Hageland Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 6:34 PM CST

Wyoming running back Wynel Seldon is in full Groundhog Day mode right now.

The Plano East alumnus gets up early every morning, save for Sunday, works his legs with his personal trainer, takes a break for lunch, works his upper body, eats dinner and then goes to bed.

He repeats the process six times a week and admits it can get a bit monotonous. But Seldon continues the rigorous routine in hopes of hearing his name selected when the 2009 NFL Draft commences April 25-26 in New York.

“It can be tiring,” Seldon said. “But it’s all for a purpose.”

Seldon, who graduated from East in 2004, has spent the last four seasons playing at Wyoming. Seldon set a freshman record for the program in 2005 when he amassed 871 yards on the ground and finished his college career as the Cowboys’ third all-time leading rusher with 2,672 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Not bad for someone who spent most of his college career in a two-back system. In fact, one of the knocks against Seldon, who is currently projected as a late-round selection or undrafted free agent by many draftniks, is that he has never proven he can carry the load for a team. But the former Panther doesn’t necessarily view that as a negative.

“I’ve never been the No. 1 guy for a season, but being in a two-back system helped me learn a lot and mature,” Seldon said. “I would tell any teams interested in me to go back and watch the game where I did carry the load; if I get 20-25 carries I am going to get you 100 yards.

“Plus, I’ll be coming into the league a lot fresher. Some guys may have had 1,000 carries in college but I had a lot less.”

In addition to a lack of time as a feature back, the other potential knock against Seldon by scouts has been his lack of top speed. Unofficial numbers have Seldon clocked at 4.65 in the 40-yard dash, but the 6-foot, 218-pound running back says he is shooting to get clocked at a 4.3 before the draft.

Enter Jerome Givens, Seldon’s trainer.

Givens works extensively with Seldon twice a day, focusing the morning sessions on intense leg workout and the night sessions on upper body work. The only breaks Seldon normally takes are to eat or get additional stretching in. Seldon said he and Givens work on many typical exercises, like running up hills pushing tires and resistance training with bungee cords, in an effort to improve his strength, stamina and 40 time.

“My first 20 is good, but we are working to make sure that good start translates to the other 20,” Seldon said. “Jerome is bringing new ideas every day and we are working very hard.”

One of Givens’ new ideas is a strenuous workout that Seldon claims only Plano native, and seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong would be able to finish.

Seldon has been training in Richardson, but will head to Los Angeles at the end of the month for continued workouts. His preparations are leading up to the crucial personal workouts that will take place on Mar. 12 and 26. During the workout, Seldon said he will run the 40, do a vertical jump and run other basic combine drills as well as anything else NFL scouts want to see.

Although some projections say Seldon will not be drafted, history says otherwise as East graduates have been taken in the second round of the NFL Draft the last two years. Justin Blalock was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in 2007 and Terrence Wheatley by the New England Patriots in 2008.

“The pedigree at Plano East is evident,” Seldon said. “We had Justin and Terrance the last couple years and then (Charlie) Peprah before that; there has been a pipeline of people go from East to college to the NFL.”

And the Panthers are rooting for Seldon to continue that trend.

“To have guys drafted like we have since 1999 speaks volumes about the tradition and history of Plano East football,” said Johnny Ringo, East head football coach and cluster athletic director. “And the type of athletes who have gone through here.”

While adding his name to that list is a large focus of Seldon’s life right now, it isn’t his primary focus. That would be his 1-year-old son Tamar.

Seldon’s only day off from training is Sunday and after going to church, he spends the rest of the day with his son. And it looks like football may already be in Tamar’s blood as well.

“He doesn’t walk anywhere,” Seldon said of his son. “He does everything full speed.”

Seldon said he also has opportunities to hang out with friends, go to the movies and go bowling in his down time.

“I can always make time to be a regular 22-year-old person.”

One of the people Seldon frequently hangs out with is Northeastern State University strong safety Broderick Mondy, another former Panther, who Seldon hopes will hear his name called in April’s draft as well.

Seldon wants to work his way up into the first three rounds of the draft. But even if his name isn’t called by the time Mr. Irrelevant comes off the board, Seldon won’t be ready to give up on football.

“It’s something I try not to really think about until the day comes,” he said. “But even if I don’t get drafted I feel like God will guide me through because I think I have the talent to make an NFL team and play at that level.”

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