GALLIMORE READY TO PUT ON A SHOW AT NFL COMBINE
Ottawa native to unleash speed, athleticism as he pursues ‘the opportunity of a lifetime’
Neville Gallimore remembers hanging out with friends in Grade 9, sitting on a couch watching the University of Oklahoma Sooners football team on TV.
“And I’m like, ‘Man, how cool would it be if that was me? How cool would it be, me being from Ottawa, Ontario — from (another) country — to go play (NCAA) Division I football?
“Then you fast forward to my senior year, when they offered me that opportunity. So that was a big deal.”
Five years after that, after starring at defensive tackle for the Sooners — one of the traditional powerhouses of U.S. college football — Gallimore finds himself on the cusp of an even bigger deal. That is, being selected early in the NFL draft, set for April 23-25. How cool is that? Gallimore is one of the most coveted of 46 cream-of-the-crop defensive linemen invited to this week’s NFL scouting combine. He already has met officially with some teams here, with more meetings to come.
On Saturday the 23-year-old will work out on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in front of hundreds of NFL talent evaluators. He’ll be graded on his athleticism and speed while undergoing positional drills.
NFL Network’s top draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah predicted Gallimore will “put on a show at the combine. He’s going to run really fast. He’s going to jump out of the gym.”
Even though his voice was all gravelly as he spoke to reporters on Thursday morning in his turn at the interview podium, Gallimore said he’s not sitting out a thing on Saturday.
“Yeah, I’m going to do everything. I’ve just got a sore throat,” Gallimore said. “When it’s time to run fast, I’m going to try to do just that. Again, I’m going to sell out. That’s why I’m here, that’s why a lot of these guys are here. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime and I’m not going to let it go to waste.”
Neville is the proud son of Jamaican parents who immigrated to Ottawa in the 1990s, Carlton and Merdiva Gallimore, and proud younger brother of Garry Gallimore, a two-time CIS men’s basketball defender of the year with St. Francis Xavier from 2003-07.
Time and again on Thursday, he spoke glowingly and reverently about his family’s positive influence on him, from instilling a strong work ethic, to enabling his U.S. football dream by paying the money for him to attend the then-fledgling Canada Football Prep Academy from 2013-14 in St. Catharines — near Niagara Falls on the Ontario side, a full five-hour drive away — for his last two years of high school.
“I’m really just blessed to be here and have an opportunity. It’s not only about me, it’s about my family,” he said. “I feel like if it hadn’t been for the people — my parents, my family — just being there for me and holding me to a higher standard, I wouldn’t really be in this position.”
Gallimore is consistently receiving draft grades between late first round and early second round. If so, he can bank on receiving a rookie contract in the range of US$8 million to $13 million, and maybe more if players approve new, more lucrative CBA terms.
No Canadian since 2011 has been drafted as high as Round 2. Jeremiah has Gallimore ranked as the No. 37 overall prospect.
Some talent evaluators believe Gallimore more than makes up for his wingspan deficiency with his unceasing effort, incredible power and, for his size, uncommon speed and athleticism.
A reporter asked Gallimore what he hopes his presence at the combine might say to other aspiring NFL players in Grade 9, sitting on couches across Canada.
“It says that it doesn’t matter where you come from, what your background is. If you love this game and you’re passionate and you have that hunger, anything is possible. Especially coming from where I come from, there are very, very few guys who have gotten the opportunity to play at the next level or play in the NFL. To be in this position is a blessing, but it’s also humbling. I always tell those guys: Don’t ever count yourself out.
“If you had told me six or seven years ago that, ‘You are going to be at the NFL combine and competing,’ I’d have said you were crazy.”