INDIANAPOLIS — As he strolled to the third podium in a massive meeting room at the Indianapolis Convention Center, Pat Elflein's smile grew wider with each passing second. Eyeing a few familiar faces on the floor beneath him, the Pickerington native and future pro offered a lighthearted jab at the Ohio State reporters anxious to ask the nation's best center a question.
“The boys are back, I see,” he said. “The boys are back.”
Elflein spoke that credo often during his five years at Ohio State. Echoed by his teammates, the 2016 Rimington Trophy recipient lived college to the fullest as a Buckeye. The first member of Urban Meyer's most recent team to speak to the media at the NFL Combine, Elflein used it as an opportunity to reflect. Again.
“It's a dream come true,” Elflein said. “I'm living my dream every day.”
A projected second- or third-round pick by analysts, Elflein has no regrets about returning to college for his fifth season even though it ended with a resounding thud. His team didn't score a point during his final game at Ohio State, losing to Clemson 31-0 in the College Football Playoff.
“I definitely got leaner, got stronger and I'm healthier and in better shape. I feel great. It's the best I've ever felt.”– Pat Elflein
“It sucked but you can't worry about it now,” he said, before walking to his next obligation as one of the more than 300 players at the Combine.
Players, coaches and general managers don't get much time to breathe at the Combine — “this place is a machine,” Elflein says — as evaluations before next month's draft are in full swing. Medical examinations, interviews and even psychological testing from all angles rarely stop. For example, Indiana offensive lineman Dan Feeney told reporters a team spent his interview playing card tricks in an effort to test his memory.
“That was interesting,” Feeney said.
The Combine is meant to exhaust players, see what they can do under pressure and most importantly, how they react to being sleep deprived. Elflein said he had a 4 a.m. wake-up call on Wednesday for a drug test. Lights out didn't come until more than 18 hours later, after 10:30 p.m.
“Constantly talking to people, psychological testing, informal, formal interviews with teams,” Elflein said. “It's a grind but it's really exciting.
“It's the dream.”
It's the dream. Elflein muttered the last word in that sentence a handful of times in his nearly 14-minute interview session with reporters. His five years at Ohio State prepared him mentally and physically for the next level, as well as a transition from guard to center his senior year. That move paid the highest dividends imaginable with winning the Rimington and though the Buckeyes flopped against Clemson, they still had a chance to compete for a national title. Going against high-level players — many of whom are in the NFL now — his three years as a starter didn't hurt either.
“Everyone is an NFL caliber player so you go against that talent every day,” he said.
Elflein got exactly what he wanted when he elected to come back to Ohio State unlike nine of his teammates from the 2015 team who left school despite having eligibility left on the table.
“At Ohio State, you want to win a championship every year. Obviously, we didn't do that,” Elflein said. “I think that team will go down as one of the most talented teams ever in college football. That's definitely going to stand out.
“But what's also going to stand out is how we faced adversity at the end of the season, came back and beat two really good teams in a handily fashion. That's what sticks out to me the most. All those great players that got drafted, great guys too. Just to be on the same team as them was pretty cool.”
The Buckeyes won the 2014 national championship with Elflein helping pave the way for Ezekiel Elliott in the position. Ohio State beat Alabama and romped over Oregon after thrashing Wisconsin the Big Ten title game.. Elliott's 85-yard scamper against the Crimson Tide was one of Elflein's fondest memories from playing with the man that led the NFL in rushing this past season.
Elliott crushed the Combine a year ago. So did his teammates. Now it is Elflein's turn to do the same. It started on Thursday.
The center repped 225 pounds 22 times on the bench press (he wants more at Ohio State's Pro Day March 23), checked in at 303 pounds and had a lower body fat percentage than he did at Ohio State. Credit LeCharles Bentley's workout and diet regiment for that.
“I think I've definitely changed a lot. Changed my eating habits completely. I think that's mainly what it is,” he said. “I definitely got leaner, got stronger and I'm healthier and in better shape. I feel great. It's the best I've ever felt.”
Elflein will get an emotional jolt when his family arrives in Indianapolis on Friday, ready to watch their son and brother compete with the best football prospects the world has to offer.
The Ohio State chapter of his football career is over. The Combine is the focus, and Elflein isn't here to forget anything. He is taking everything he can get his hands on at the NFL Combine.
That's why when he stepped away from the podium, Elflein physically snatched the tag that had his name on it in addition to the NFL seal.
Why Pat Elflein stole his name card after his media interview at the NFL Scouting Combine: pic.twitter.com/6zIHPqjky8
— Eric Seger (@EricSeger33) March 2, 2017
