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By Root 202 0

go through a number of tests so the coaches can see their skills, both physical and mental, in action. Included is the Wonderlic Test, a fifty-question test that you have to complete in twelve minutes to help the coaches look at your problem-solving skills. Athletes also have fifteen-minute interviews with interested teams, drug screening, and (as you can imagine) lots of physical tests. You get clocked for the 40-yard dash, 20-yard shuttle, 60-yard shuttle, and 3-cone drill. You're tested on how many 225-pound reps you can bench press, you're measured for both vertical jump and broad jump, and you're evaluated on drills that are specific to your position. Plus, you have your body measured and examined for injuries, and even your joint movement is evaluated. You get looked at and considered in every possible way so that the NFL teams can have the best sense of who you are, what you can do, and whether you have the potential to improve.

I did okay but knew I could have performed better than I did. I thought about it and prayed about the whole situation a lot, and I finally decided that maybe I needed to change agents after all. As much as I respected the agent I'd hired, and as much as I loved my friends from Ole Miss who were doing well with their training, I realized that I needed to be with someone who could better work with my style of play. I also felt I needed someone who knew me well enough to understand my unusual story. I was concerned that many coaches or scouts who'd read The Blind Side were forming opinions about me before they got to know me. The book presented me as a slow learner instead of someone who had just never had much solid instruction. I wanted to correct that view of things.

So I had the uncomfortable conversation with my agent and then signed with Jimmy Sexton instead. I finally realized that his history with my family, as well as his location in Memphis and understanding of the city, were really valuable to me. I went to train in Nashville, at D1 Sports Training. There we concentrated on weight training and heavy lifting, and in less than a month I was already much stronger than I'd been. March 26, 2009, was Ole Miss's pro day, and I was on fire. This is basically a team's last chance to scope out the players they might want to draft, and the scouts all said they were excited about what they saw from me that day. I knew that I was at the top of the list for tackles for a lot of teams.

I did learn a lesson from that whole experience: If you make the wrong decision, it's never too late to make the right one.

Learning is part of growing up. It was important to me to make my own choice, and I'm blessed that my family loved me enough to support me in my first choice and then again support me when I realized I needed to make a change.

DRAFT DAY WAS LIKE A DREAM for me. In the weeks leading up to it, I was so nervous and so excited at the same time. After the Combine, most experts were saying I'd go in the top twenty; after Ole Miss's pro day, a lot of them were saying I'd be a top-ten pick. I was so ready to get to New York and see how it would all play out.

Then a few things happened that threatened to cloud the experience.

First, a few draft watchers speculated that I might not play with enough passion and drive now that I had been taken in by a stable, wealthy family. They said that might affect how hard I would work because there was no longer the motivation to get out of the ghetto. I just rolled my eyes at those remarks. I had been a part of the Tuohy family since before I started college, and it definitely hadn't watered down my work ethic then. It was ridiculous to say it might happen now.

I also started to hear some whispers that despite my work to show that it wasn't true, some coaches were still worried after reading The Blind Side that I was not smart enough to learn the playbook. That really upset me because I knew I would prove them wrong if they just gave me a chance. I wanted to show everyone my Chancellor's List letters or have them quiz me on the Ole Miss playbook, which