Kearney High product Cale Garrett chasing NFL dream. So are his Mizzou teammates
Cale Garrett was once just 96 hours away from embarking on a Plan B after his preferred college choice had ignored his pleas. For weeks during his senior football season at Kearney High, Garrett heard scouts tell him they liked his film.
Then the ensuing sentence always began in the same manner.
But if only you were a little faster, we’d have a spot for you.
It all worked out in the end — Missouri, his dream school, made an offer four days before he had planned to sign with Navy. But — and there’s that word again — the murmurs are back. Louder than ever.
After a four-year, prove-the-doubters-wrong career at Mizzou, Garrett received an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine this week in Indianapolis. In a setting that is entirely new to him, there’s an element of familiarity.
The doubt.
“The same thing I’ve been told my whole life,” said Garrett, a middle linebacker. “I’m not a track star. I’m definitely not Tyreek Hill, that’s for sure.”
He smirked at the similarities between how he is approaching his NFL desires and how he tackled his college aspirations four years ago.
“It’s back to square one again,” he said. “I’m going to go in and be a nobody again probably, which is fine.”
Once on Missouri’s campus, it didn’t take long for Garrett to make an impression. He eventually started as a freshman and never relinquished the role — until an injury forced him to do so. He suffered a pectoral injury midway into his senior year, ending his season. He had scored three defensive touchdowns in three weeks.
Garrett said he’s back to 90-95% healthy, he estimated, but he’s still building the strength back in his upper body and therefore won’t participate in the bench press. Other drills will receive his full attention.
As have the interviews with teams. Garrett has tried to highlight his instincts as a middle linebacker, but words can sometimes appear hollow. The numbers tell a better story. In his final four games before the injury, the Tigers’ defense allowed a total of 31 points. Over the ensuing six without him, they never held an opponent under 21 in a game.
“Even though the injury was out of my control, it still felt like I let my team down a little bit,” Garrett said. “We had a great opportunity to have a really special season. It didn’t turn out that way. Yeah, it was heartbreaking.”
Onward now.
With a reminder of the past.
When Garrett was 13, he visited Indianapolis for a football camp. He posed for a picture outside Lucas Oil Stadium. Still has the photo.
On Saturday, he will run through a series of tests and linebacker drills inside the same venue, hoping to catch the eyes of NFL scouts.
“It is crazy,” Garrett said. “I never thought I would make it this far. But I think that just goes to show being able to put your head down and go to work every day can take you places. If it can for me, it can for anybody.”
Mizzou well-represented at the combine
Garrett is one of six Tigers at the combine.
Kelly Bryant is among 17 quarterbacks participating in the week.
The Chiefs conducted one of their 45 allotted formal interviews with Missouri defensive lineman Jordan Elliott (6-4, 302), who led the team with 10 tackles for loss last season.
“It would be a blessing just being back in that (state),” Elliott said. “I feel like it would almost be like going back to your hometown, even though it’s not my hometown. I’ve been there for so long.”
The Chiefs have also been in contact with offensive tackle Yasir Durant (6-6, 331), though only in informal discussions.
“I think it helped me a lot playing different systems, seeing different fronts in the SEC,” Durant said.
Durant is rooming with Mizzou teammate Trystan Colon-Castillo at the combine.
“It’s a great time. I’m not going to lie,” Colon-Castillo, a 6-3, 313-pound offensive lineman, said of all the Missouri players at the combine. “We were all eating dinner (Tuesday) night together, just joking around, things like that. It’s something crazy obviously. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. To be able to get to do it with your boys is something I’ll always remember and cherish.”
Tight end Albert Okwuegbunam (6-5, 258) met with the Pittsburgh Steelers in a formal interview Tuesday. He led Missouri with six receiving touchdowns last year.
“Just my ability to create mismatches all over the field,” Okwuegbunam said of his potential fit in the NFL. “Whether it is in the red zone or using my athleticism to get open or just be able to stretch the field with my speed or anywhere to pick up a first down.”