Missouri center Evan Boehm one step closer to fulfilling lifelong dream

Luke Butkus shuffled from spot to spot, watching each individual war being waged in front of him in short bursts.

This was Tuesday, the first day of the South team’s practice at the Senior Bowl, and now it was Missouri center Evan Boehm’s turn to line up against one of the South’s huge defensive tackles in one-on-one run-blocking drills.

For a good five seconds, Boehm, a Lee’s Summit West graduate, had all of Butkus’ attention as he attempted to bull another 300-pound man off the ball.

But what happened instead was a stalemate, which apparently wasn’t good enough for Butkus, the offensive line coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“You’ve been catching all day Evan, you’ve been catching all day,” Butkus yelled, before shuffling a few yards to his left to watch the next matchup.

Boehm nodded. It had been two months since he last put on his pads, and he was knocking off the rust. He was also trying to prove he was completely healthy after playing through an ankle sprain the first half of the season in what amounts to the first of several job interviews as he prepares for the 2016 NFL Draft.

But Boehm, who has been waiting for this opportunity since he was a little kid, couldn’t have been more pumped.

“It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s nerve-racking, it’s scary,” Boehm said. “It’s just a bunch of emotions packed together in one. Because if you asked me when I was 5 years old what I wanted to be when I grew up, it was a professional football player. And not a lot of people get to be in the spot I’m at.”

That’s part of the reason Boehm — a four-year started who measured in at 6 feet 2 and 309 pounds during the weigh-ins on Tuesday — enjoyed being coached by Butkus and his staff so much.

“It’s a lot of fun, and you get to preview what it’s gonna be like for the next hopefully 10 years of my life,” said Boehm, who is projected to be a fifth-round pick by CBS Sports. “It’s intense, but oh, I love it and I love his coaching style and the way he coaches … it’s just the little details that they pick up on because they’ve been around the game so long.

“They know what they’re looking for and they know what they want, and when they see something they don’t want, they’re gonna tell you.”

Of course, Boehm has plenty of tools to work with. As a former high school wrestler, he understands leverage, and he also generates plenty of power with a thick base.

“Evan is your cork-in-the-bottle center — he just understands how to play,” Senior Bowl scouting director Phil Savage said. “He’s got a ton of experience, and Alabama played Mizzou last year, and I do the color (commentary) for Alabama, so I was familiar with him.”

Boehm is used to that. His father Royce is the head coach at Lee’s Summit West, and Evan played for him from 2008 to 2011.

The fact Boehm has come so far since then — the Senior Bowl showcases the best senior football prospects in the country — was special for the whole family, which is why Royce arrived in Mobile on Thursday with Evan’s mom, Teresa, and brother, Tyler, to watch Evan compete in Saturday’s game, which starts at 1:30 p.m.

“Representing that Boehm last name is a huge honor, a huge blessing,” Boehm said. “I’m excited to be here and excited to show out in front of everybody that’s going to be watching on Saturday.”

Boehm isn’t the only Tiger trying to do the same. Fellow lineman Connor McGovern also received an invite, although he was forced to leave on the first day because a hamstring injury, while inside linebacker Kentrell Brothers got to measure himself against the best, as well.

“I learned that I can compete with the best of them,” said Brothers, who led the nation in tackles with 152 when the regular season ended. “I’ve been out here with a lot of tremendous athletes, a lot of great quarterbacks and a lot of great linebackers.

“It’s been fun — I’m excited for Saturday.”

He shares that attitude with Boehm, who was thrilled with the progress he made by Thursday afternoon in Mobile. He knows that in the NFL, he’ll have to win with his brains and core strength, and he feels he showed the ability to do that with each practice.

“I’ve gotten better every day, like I told you I would, and it’s exciting to see where I’m at now,” Boehm said. “I’m only going to get better.”

What’s more, Boehm added that he received positive feedback from the Jaguars’ staff toward the end of the week, which he was happy to receive.

“There’s studs out here, man, there’s freaks out here, and I proved to myself that I’m healthy,” Boehm said. “And when I’m healthy, I can do what I need to do. I was right there with the best of them this week.”

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 9:18 PM with the headline "Missouri center Evan Boehm one step closer to fulfilling lifelong dream."