One Final Glance: U.Va.'s Sintim gets his last chance to impress NFL scouts

As he stood off to the side of the weight room waiting for the official start of the University of Vir-ginia's Pro Day Thursday morning, Clint Sintim was already a bundle of energy.

"Thirty-seven days," Sintim said without any prompting.

The Gar-Field High School graduate wasn't trying to get too far ahead of himself in his reference to when the NFL Draft begins on April 25th, but it was hard for him to contain his enthu-siasm.

Days like this, where he would be evaluated once again by representatives from NFL teams, only reminded him how close he was toward getting the chance to embark on a career in professional football. He was on the clock, so to speak, and was savoring every moment of it.

By all accounts, Sintim remains a late first-round to early second-round selection in the NFL Draft, meaning he could be chosen anywhere from the 20th to the 40th pick.

One publication, Pro Football Weekly, released its list this week of the top 150 draft-eligible play-ers. Sintim was rated No. 30.

For his own part, Sintim does not get too caught up in the projections. Nor is he getting too caught up in how teams plan to use him.

Sintim has drawn interest from NFL teams who play a 4-3 defensive scheme and teams who play a 3-4. Sintim has more familiarity with the 3-4, having played that for four years as a pass-rushing outside linebacker for the Cavaliers, but he's not limited to one style.

There's also the chance some teams might use him at defensive end. The Buffalo Bills mentioned that possibility to Sintim a week ago when they brought him in for an individual work-out.

What he did Thursday in front of the NFL personnel, who represented all but the Cardinals, Titans and Seahawks and were mostly made up of scouts and position coaches, had little to no bearing on his draft status.

His stock has stayed at the same point since the evaluation process picked up earlier this year, first with the Senior Bowl in January and then with the NFL Combine last month in Indianapolis. It hasn't risen, but it hasn't fallen either.

Virginia head football coach Al Groh made a point Thursday of saying that a player should be judged by his body of work, not on one performance at a combine. And Sintim couldn't agree more.

"There's going to be guys who are going to run faster and jump and do all these other things, but when it comes down to it, it's all a matter of are you a football player or not," Sintim said. "And I think I'm a football player."

Sintim began the pro day being measured for his weight, height and arm span. Although this event is hosted by Virginia, it is run by the NFL and scouts direct the players from one station to an-other.

They'd already been welcomed by Groh, who held an informational meeting with them an hour earlier to discuss and answer any questions the teams might have. Now it was time to let the NFL representatives do their thing.

With notebooks and stopwatches in hand, the scouts and coaches, most of whom were wearing something that identified which team they worked for, got down to business.

For players like Sintim, this was a low-profile event. He'd gone through this process in Indianapolis almost a month ago. Content with the performance times he posted in the various drills there, Sintim did not participate in much Thursday.

He did choose to run the short shuttle and the three-cone drill, both designed to test a player's ability to change direction quickly and work in tight space. Sintim had done both at the NFL Combine, but he did them near the end of the non-stop schedule when he wasn't at full strength.

Sintim also participated in position drills on Virginia's practice field. Those drills were di-rected by the Pittsburgh Steelers' linebackers coach, but were observed by two other NFL representatives, including the linebackers coach for the Miami Dolphins.

For the most part, though, Sintim spent Thursday as a cheerleader for other players.

Unlike Sintim and four of his Cavalier teammates, including offensive lineman Eugene Monroe, a projected top-5 pick, there were a number of players present Thursday who had not been invited to the combine.

This was their chance to perform in front of the NFL scouts. Of the 13 draft-eligible players in attendance, there were some who had come from other schools or played at Virginia before finish-ing their college careers somewhere else, including quarterback Kevin McCabe, who played last season for Division II California University in Pennsylvania.

"It was a great opportunity for a lot of other guys who didn't have the opportunity to go to the combine to come out here and showcase their ability as well," Sintim said.

The pro day finished up just before 1 p.m. After doing some interviews, Sintim spent the rest of his day with his agent, Michael Perrett, who had flown in the day before. The two had plans that night to go to dinner and talk before moving on Friday to their next destination.

For Perrett, that meant heading back to Atlanta, where he works for ProFile Sports.

And for Sintim, it meant getting ready for an individual workout with the Falcons in Charlottesville.

With Virginia's facilities on hand, Sintim plans on staying in Charlottesville until right up to the draft before heading home to Woodbridge.

Sintim expects to be scheduled for more individual workouts by teams before mid-April when they will convene in their respective war rooms and start breaking down all the data they've accumulated.

A year ago, Sintim's friend, teammate and roommate Chris Long went through this before being taken by St. Louis as the No. 2 overall pick.

Long and Sintim stay in touch and Sintim looks to Long for advice on how to stay in preparation mode.

"He just told me to be myself and comfortable in who I am and just be the same guy every day," Sintim said.

Which means Sintim will remain that bundle of energy until April 25th finally arrives. It's an exciting time in his life. Let the countdown continue.

David Fawcett is the sports editor of the News & Messenger. Reach him at (703) 878-8052 or at dfawcett@insidenova.com