Long wait pays off for 2019 seniors
Finally get to perform for NFL scouts
Jazzee Stocker got the call at Los Angeles International Airport. Will Gragg was working out in Dallas. Jeff George Jr. was in Florida. And Aaron Mathews, Saleem Brightwell and Amir Watts were training here in town.
Two, maybe three, days before Pitt’s 2020 pro day was supposed to be held on the South Side, it was canceled. Well, at the time it was indefinitely postponed. But every player affected looked around during the early days of the pandemic and realized something — their last chance to prove themselves to the NFL was possibly gone.
“I couldn’t believe it was happening. But that’s how 2020 ended up going with COVID. Everything was shutting down,” said Mathews, a former Pitt and Clairton wide receiver. “It was rough. I never actually thought I was going to get the chance to do the pro day.”
Fortunately for those six former Panthers, they were able to unofficially close out their Pitt careers. It just happened 364 days later than expected.
Last Wednesday, scouts and coaches from all 32 NFL teams descended on the South Side for Pitt’s 2021 pro day. Consensus All-American pass-rushers Rashad Weaver and Patrick Jones II, as well as safety Damar Hamlin and opt outs Jaylen Twyman and Paris Ford, were the main draws. But the contingent of Pitt participants went beyond those with guaranteed draft grades.
Head coach Pat Narduzzi, administrator Chris LaSala and the program extended invitations to Panthers who moved on after the 2019 season. Players like Mathews, Brightwell and Watts — contributors who would have nabbed at least rookie minicamp invites last year if not for COVID-19 — were afforded another opportunity.
Watts was “relieved” when Pitt contacted him in January about this year’s pro day. “It was like a breath of fresh air,” the defensive tackle said, after a year in which nothing came easy to the group of undrafted prospects.
Following Pitt’s Quick Lane Bowl win over Eastern Michigan in December 2019, the Panthers went their separate ways. Those coming back for the 2020 season visited family then returned to campus for winter workouts. Those hoping to latch on with an NFL or Canadian Football League team went somewhere warm or stayed in town to train.
Mathews competed in the Tropical Bowl in Daytona Beach, Fla., before flying back to Pittsburgh. Watts and Brightwell stayed local and worked out at Grossetti Performance in New Castle. Stocker trained in Calabasas, Calif., Gragg prepared at Michael Johnson Performance in Texas, and George worked out at House of Athlete, former NFL star Brandon Marshall’s facility in Weston, Fla.