Kyle Johnson and P.J. Alexander strut confidently into the Manley Field House weight room. Johnson’s chiseled physique puffs out a blue T-shirt with the football team’s motto ‘Why not us?’ printed on the back. Alexander’s massive frame dwarfs the orange machines that extend indefinitely through the room.

The Temptations blare from speakers situated behind the two former Syracuse football players as they laugh with fellow seniors Mark Holtzman, J.R. Johnson and Graham Manley.

‘I don’t know (who chooses the music), man. We gotta get here before (the coaches) do,’ Alexander says, casting a glance over his shoulder at strength and conditioning coach William Hicks. ‘Don’t worry, we got it.’

Five minutes later, after a torturous routine of sit-ups, crunches and other stomach contortions, Alexander’s proven correct. The 290-pound offensive lineman sings operetta style and Johnson plays air guitar as System of a Down’s “Chop Suey” dominates the same speakers.

The seniors may be the main act in snug old Manley, but starting Thursday, Alexander, Johnson, Willie Ford, Dwight Freeney and Quentin Harris will be a few of many performers in the cavernous RCA Dome in Indianapolis during the NFL combine.

The combine brings together 333 top college players to test their strength, speed and mental capacity in front of NFL scouts. Athletes are judged in events ranging from the 40-yard dash to three-hour personality tests.

Hicks believes Syracuse’s quintet has an advantage in the physical tests. For 10 years, Hicks has attended every combine because of his status as an NFL liaison. The experience allows Hicks to create a workout preparing Syracuse athletes for the NFL.

Hicks said the presence of a familiar face helps ease young players who think a slip in the 40-yard dash or a struggle in the standing broad jump may purchase them a ticket to NFL Europe or Canada.

‘Anxiety starts to set in,’ Hicks said. ‘This is for keeps. These are your goals and dreams.’

Like Hicks, Alexander feels Syracuse’s weight-training program is superior to those at the majority of top colleges. At his agent’s urging, Alexander traveled to Atlanta to work out with Georgia Tech safety Chris Young and see how his competition trained. After comparing the program to Hicks’, Alexander raved about the systematic routine Hicks runs during his lunch hour, Mondays through Fridays at 12:30.

‘I just wanted to make sure I was doing as much as I could do,’ Alexander said. ‘Here the program really is unbelievable. It might be the best in the country.’

‘I don’t mean to blow smoke, but a lot of schools don’t do this,’ Hicks said. ‘At a lot of schools once you graduate, they’re done with you. We have tradition here. They give us four or five years of their time. I give them three months of mine.’

Hicks, who performs each workout with the NFL hopefuls and sweats as much as any of them, said the workouts are virtually identical to those performed during the springs and summers of a player’s first three years when the player tries to build muscle mass. During the season, they try to maintain that muscle and work on endurance and injury prevention.

Although the majority of the drills are from past years, Freeney said the program has been tweaked. Instead of focusing on benching a maximum weight, Freeney and the others work on endurance for the bench-press drill that requires them to lift 225 pounds as many times as they can. But Freeney insists the biggest change has been an added emphasis on cardiovascular endurance and agility drills.

Still, the draft status of Freeney and others is more or less determined prior to the combine.

‘Their (regular season) performance is 70 percent of where they’ll be drafted,’ Hicks said. ‘The testing is important, but production is the bottom line.’

New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, who drafted former Orangeman cornerback Will Allen in the first round last year, agreed. Accorsi said 40 percent of skill-position players (quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs) don’t even run at the combines and wait until scouts visit them at their home tracks.

‘It’s only a part of the puzzle,’ Accorsi said. ‘You have to discipline yourself not to get too excited. It’s a track meet, not a football game. No one gets hit with all that running and jumping.’

Both Accorsi and Hicks said players making huge jumps in draft position based on combine results are rare. Accorsi cited former Boston College defensive end Mike Mamula as one exception. Mamula, projected to be a second-round pick in 1995, blew away the field in the 40-yard dash and was drafted seventh overall by the Eagles as a pass rusher.

‘With all the scouting they’ve done through four years and the tape they’ve watched, they know what you can do,” Hicks said. ‘They’re just looking to affirm it.’

If there are any surprises for Syracuse this year, teammates agree it will be Freeney, the NCAA single-season sack record holder.

‘By far it’s Dwight,’ Alexander said. ‘I don’t think they understand the speed he has. He’s going to blow some minds.’

Instead of the physical events, Accorsi insisted intelligence tests and personality exams are most important to the Giants. With million-dollar investments on the line and the recent case of Demetrius Underwood — a first-round pick who checked into a mental institution during his rookie season — teams are extra cautious in getting a read on mental stability.

‘We give the most extensive test they have,’ Accorsi said. ‘It tests their personality, how they’ll deal with pressure and how much they enjoy football.’

But, Hicks said, physicals are crucial as well. Photographers take pictures from every angle, looking for weaknesses in bone structure, while doctors check old injuries as closely as dieters count their calories. That means Freeney (ankle injury), Alexander (stress fracture in his foot) and Johnson (season-ending ankle injury last year) will be poked and prodded.

Despite the insistence that the combine matters little to the seniors’ draft statuses, receiving an invitation is a positive sign. Sixty percent (216 of 325) of combine invites last year were drafted, while only 30 non-invites were.

‘It’s a little more intense,’ Alexander said. ‘This is for money now. It’s personal now. We worked as hard as we could for the team. Now we’re there, trying to find a place.’

Published on February 27, 2002 at 12:00 pm